Astrid Down the Rabbit Hole
by Hannibal the Animal
Summary: Where does one go in the dark parts of the mind?
1. Part I:Chapter One

**TITLE:**  _Chapter One _

**CHARACTERS:** _Astrid Farnsworth_

**POV:** _Astrid _

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:** _"What happened?" she asked aloud…"_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland_

**WORD COUNT: **_178_

**WARNINGS:** _None_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _I'm trying to perfect my dark/surreal work._

**DISCLAIMER:**   _unbeta'd_

* * *

"Where am I?"

Astrid woke in a dark sea, floating on her back. She looked at the blackness above her. There were no stars.

"What happened?" she asked aloud and to her surprise, an orange smoke poured out of her mouth.

It illuminated the small space above her, a glowing yellow that reminded her more of fire than the sun. She blew out more of the smoke into the sky and she could see very, very far off in the distance there was a horizon and islands. Slowly, after at least a few more hours of floating, she realised she had no idea how she was supporting herself in the water for this long. Or why she wasn't cold. Or how she had ended up here in the first place. Her limbs felt as heavy as lead, so she was panting gold and red sparks by the time she managed to hold her hand up to where she could see it.

And when she did, she couldn't stop screaming.

She was floating in an ocean of blood.


	2. Part I:Chapter Two

**TITLE:**  _Chapter Two_

**CHARACTERS:** _Phillip Broyles, Walter Bishop, Olivia Dunham, Peter Bishop, Astrid Farnsworth, Nina Sharp_

**POV:** _Phillip Broyles_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:** _"Bishop hurried over to the curly-haired junior agent before looking back up at him. "Call a nurse. She's screaming." "_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland_

**WORD COUNT:** _774_

**WARNINGS:** _language (sorry if that word offends)_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _I'm trying to perfect my dark/surreal work._

**DISCLAIMER:**   _unbeta'd?_

* * *

Phillip Broyles walked into the private hospital room, somber as ever. He had a courtesy bouquet of assorted flowers that he had purchased down in the gift shop as had become habit on the days he came to visit the quartet.

Farnsworth on his far right, Dunham in the middle, Peter Bishop on the far left, and Dr. Walter Bishop drifting from comatose body to comatose body, muttering to himself and taking notes on the back of a bright blue flyer for the cafeteria menu.

Phillip was still clutching the bouquet tightly as he watched the older man. "Dr. Bishop…"

"You can't take me back to St. Claire's. I must take care of the children," he mumbled, shuffling past him.

"Dr. Bishop," Phillip said again, this time a little firmer.

"It's almost their snack time. I have to bring them applesauce—it's Peter's favourite." Bishop looked up at him, almost as if he were startled to see him there. "Did you move the spoons?"

"No," he replied, trying not become irritated at the strange old man wearing hospital issue pyjamas under a thin terrycloth robe.

"Oh. Well, I must go find the spoons. I have to feed them." Bishop pointed at the north-east corner of the room. "The young lady who acts as my assistant won't eat any."

Farnsworth was the only one hooked up to the breathing machine.

Phillip had learned a long time ago that he needed to decipher Bishop's often-coded messages. "I know. She's getting her snacks somewhere else."

"Good, good." Bishop agreed. Then faster than lightning, his hand struck out and grabbed Phillip tightly around the upper arm. "Please don't take me away from the children. I beg you. They need me here."

Phillip knew that Bishop was making a better recovery here in this private hospital, but that didn't mean someone with a bone to pick couldn't make a few phone calls and have the scientist shipped back to that state-run hell hole. "I can only keep you out of St. Claire's for so long, Dr. Bishop."

Bishop only shuffled his slipper clad feet, muttering something about the venecion shades.

There was an odd wheezing noise, like someone was slowly letting air out of a balloon and Phillip frowned. "What's that?"

Bishop hurried over to the curly-haired junior agent before looking back up at him. "Call a nurse. She's screaming."

* * *

It was a month later when Dr. Bishop was composed enough to take to the FBI field office for a talk with the only person who could possibly help them. Phillip really hadn't felt comfortable with giving the scientist anything sharp, so the old man was sporting the beginnings of a beard and mustache, his hair a wild bramble that hadn't been combed since last Monday. Today was Thursday.

Bishop was fidgeting in his suit and tie, which was somewhat cruel to put the man in, but Phillip really needed to use every trick in the book this morning. As expected, Nina Sharp was waiting with her assistant in his office, the two women sitting patently like cobras at the table.

Phillip and Dr. Bishop sat down together and the scientist greeted the woman with a waspish, "Hello, you cunt."

Obviously Sharp was above his juvenile baiting, as crude as it was. "Hello, Walter. How are you?"

"You owe me."

"I know. That's why I'm here. To repay you." She nodded to her assistant who passed a stapled packet of papers across the table. "Phillip tells me you need the following supplies."

Dr. Bishop glanced over the list. "Yes."

Sharp's smile and tone almost made her seem innocent. "I would like to see what you're planning—"

"No. You will _**not**_ be involved," he spat.

At this, Sharp'd cool façade began to crack. "It's my equipment, Walter."

"You are not allowed near my boy," he snarled.

Sharp cocked her head. "Do you _really_ think I would hurt Peter?"

Bishop contemplated for a moment before saying, "Maybe not Peter, but certainly Olivia or Abendigo."

She gave a casual shrug. "Fine."

Then the scientist turned to him. "You will not be involved. I don't trust you either."

At this Phillip tensed. "Dr. Bishop, I will not allow you access to their bodies without supervision."

"Olivia's partner Charlie Francis will help me."

"What?" Sharp and Phillip said in unison.

"I can trust him," he said softly.

Sharp looked a little uneasy. "You will do everything in your power to make sure Olivia isn't damaged?"

Bishop glanced out the glass wall the overlooked the field agents' desks. "No one I love will be hurt. The children will be safe in my hands."


	3. Part I:Chapter Three

**TITLE:**  _Chapter 03_

**CHARACTERS:** _Peter Bishop, Walter Bishop, Phillip Broyles_

**POV:** _Peter, Phillip Broyles_

**SUMMARY:** _"__Peter stepped into the room and an uneasy smile crossed his lips. "I'm dreaming, aren't I?" "_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland_

**WORD COUNT:** _935_

**WARNINGS:** _Blood_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _I'm trying to perfect my dark/surreal work._

**DISCLAIMER:**   _unbeta'd_

* * *

Peter found himself standing at the end of a long dim hallway. In fact, this was the hallway in the old house that he had lived in. He began to slowly walk down the oriental rug that seemed to extend on for miles, a little nervous. 'If this was a movie,' he thought, somewhat amused, 'I'd probably be in a horror film.'

There was light creeping out from under the door on the right at the very end. The nursery. When he was a child it had been full of toys and wonderful memories. That had to be a safe place.

He approached the door slowly and put his had on the doorknob, unable to find the courage to turn it. Not that he was scared, he just didn't know what to expect on the other side. To his surprise, the knob turned on it's own and the door opened to reveal a small boy holding a red toy plane.

Peter felt his breath catch in his throat. He looked up from the boy to see another one, who was still chubby and twelve, holding yet another boy, whom appeared to be two.

"About time you showed up. We've been waiting here forever," twelve-year-old Peter greeted with a mischievous smile.

"For me," Present-day Peter said, dumbfounded.

"Duh." The pre-teen rolled his eyes.

Peter stepped into the room and an uneasy smile crossed his lips. "I'm dreaming, aren't I?"

Twelve looked uncomfortable as well. "Kinda."

Peter looked away from his nine-year-old self and his five-year-old self playing jacks over by the rocking horse. "Kinda?"

"You were hurt," Twelve said softly.

Peter nodded, digesting the information. "I'm in a coma."

"Yes!" Nine shouted happily, he being the one who opened the door.

Five was suddenly at his side, wearing the pyjamas Mom had made him, a replica of Max's from 'Where the Wild Things Are'. "Do you wanna play 'Big Bad Bear' with us?" the child asked sweetly, holding his hand.

Peter was a little surprised at the mention of the game; he hadn't thought about it in years. "Um, maybe in a little bit. I need to talk with him for a moment."

Twelve held out the two year old. "Please take him. My arms are killing me."

Peter was a little surprised to hold his two year old self, but happily accepted the child. "Hey, buddy."

The two year old began babbling a mile a minute.

"Shhh, shhh, shhh," he said with a smile, giving the little boy an Eskimo kiss.

The two year old quieted and rest his head on his shoulder, sucking his thumb as Peter turned his attention back to Twelve.

Twelve seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. "I don't remember what happened. It's blocked out," the boy said apologetically.

Peter nodded grimly. "So I must have suffered head trauma."

Twelve nodded. "Yeah."

The window curtains were all drawn and Peter was sure that what lay outside the windowpanes wasn't the view overlooking the street he grew up on. Two seemed to be falling asleep here in Peter's arms and Nine was letting Five draw on his arms with markers.

"How long have I been like this?" Peter whispered, suddenly afraid.

Twelve looked down at his calculator watch. "I'd guess forty days."

"Oh my god," Peter groaned, his stomach churning.

Twelve avoided his eyes. "We were beginning to get worried you wouldn't show up."

"So it's a good thing I'm here?" Peter said, unsure what to think.

"It means you're not brain dead," Twelve said simply.

Nine jumped out in front of him. "RAWR!"

"Shut up! You're not a damn brontosaurus!" Twelve snarled, his face suddenly twisted in rage.

"Hey! Don't yell at him," Peter chastised.

The nine year old burst into tears, which made Two and Five begin to blubber as well. He tried to shush him, using the same soft noise his mother did, but when that didn't work, he suddenly had an idea. He set Two on the ground and Peter imagined neapoliton ice cream sandwich bars in his hands, which instantly appeared. He handed them to the young boys.

"Here. Napoleon ice cream," he said, using the name he had called it as a child.

Five's tears disappeared. "Napoleon!"

"My favourite!" Nine cheered.

"Me! Me!" Two cried happily.

Peter handed over one of the icecream bars to the twelve year old, whose cheeks were still a little mottled from his out burst. "Calm down, I'll think of something—"

Suddenly his five year old self turned his head to the ceiling, the ice cream falling to the floor.

"He's here!" the child whispered breathlessly, an excited smile on his face.

"He's here! He's here!" Nine chanted, dropping his ice cream as well.

The boys began to claw at the walls, their fingernails tearing the blue wallpaper into ribbons.

"Who's here?" Peter asked, nervous.

"Dad!" Twelve cried his fingers bleeding.

Suddenly the boys erupted in a chorus of shouting, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!"

"Walter?" Peter shouted as well, backing away from the children who seemed to have gone into a frenzy. "Walter?! Walter!"

His twelve-year-old self was sobbing in a corner, covering his face with his bloody hands.

Peter ran to the door and tried to open it, but it seemed stuck.

"WALTER!" he screamed, absolutely terrified as he yanked on the doorknob. "WALTER!!!"

* * *

"Dr. Bishop," Phillip said suddenly.

Dr. Bishop spun around, his eyes wide.

He pointed to the scientist's son. "His lips moved."

Bishop, back in his pyjamas, robe and slippers, sat next to his son and whispered, "Peter? Peter, Daddy's here."

"help…"


	4. Part I:Chapter Four

**TITLE:**  _Chapter 04_

**CHARACTERS:** _Phillip Broyles, Walter Bishop, Charlie Francis, Peter Bishop_

**POV:** _Charlie Francis_

**GENRE: **_Dark_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:** _"Bishop looked weary as he turned away. "Wear gloves. Only my prints are on the syringes, so it will at least look like a murder-suicide." "_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland, Synaptic transfer_

**WORD COUNT:** _746_

**WARNINGS:** _none_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _feedback is welcome :)_

**DISCLAIMER:** _  unbeta'd_

* * *

"Please pay attention, Chip! I've already shown you once!" Dr. Bishop said angrily holding up the Resusci-Anne's arm and the strange electrical device he was supposed to slip under the skin.

Charlie was beyond frustrated at this point—there was a reason he never became a doctor. "I'm trying, Dr. Bishop! It's all very complicated, though."

"I am not a patient man," Bishop said nastily, but his expression softened. "But this is for the children—no mistakes can be made."

"WATCH my hands," the older man directed, then showed him one more time before handing it over to him. "Now you try. And do it right!"

"Like this?"

Bishop gave an exhausted sigh. "You're not any good, but I suppose if you're all I have by means of help, I'll just have to find something else for you to do."

"I'm sorry," he said, feeling utterly defeated.

"Stop touching the wires," Bishop snapped, yanking the electrodes from him.

The door to the enormous hospital room opened and he and Dr. Bishop looked up to see Broyles standing in the door way, his eyes traveling over the equipment that had been set up. "Dr. Bishop, how is it coming along?"

"Fine. Fine. How is my son?" Bishop asked, laying Resusci-Anne on padded hospital bed.

Broyles nodded. "He's doing fine."

"And Olivia?" the older man inquired.

"She's going well, too."

"And my assistant?"

"The doctors said her skin graft is holding well." Broyles' dark eyes shifted over to him. "Agent Francis."

"Hello, sir," Charlie greeted nervously.

It was still strange to think he might not be able to trust him.

"If we work through the night, we'll be able to start in the morning," Dr. Bishop said confidently.

"The nurses want you in bed at your usual time. They said you've been having a hard time keeping your sleep schedule," Broyles said, his voice a little firmer than it had been a moment ago.

"I don't care."

"If you're well rested, it will be safer," Charlie offered.

Bishop's hands touched the computer set up. "Yes. Yes, you're right."

"Four more hours," Broyles said before leaving.

* * *

It was the following afternoon and Charlie was nearly close to an anxiety attack. This was possibly the most terrifying thing he'd ever been involved in.

He looked over to his left; Peter Bishop's body was supported in the large sensory deprivation tank, though in the saline he looked like nothing more than a naked body floating, somewhat reminiscent of the murder victims that would wash their way to shore.

Bishop was hooked up himself, wearing a pair of boxers that had the surprisingly cheerful pattern of yellow ducks on them. He was climbing into his own separate deprivation tank and he looked over at Charlie, pulling out a cardboard box that had apparently been duct taped to the top of the tank. "If the computer does not begin reversing the process, you will inject this into all of our IVs."

Charlie opened the box and saw four pre-measured syringes filled with a pale silver liquid inside.

"What is it?" he asked, suddenly very afraid.

"Kuru," Dr. Bishop said somberly, "a highly concentrated form of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy. I engineered it so that it will kill us in only a day, instead of full year it usually takes."

Charlie shook his head. "Dr. Bishop, I can't—"

"Do you want them to have a hold of any of our bodies? We have to have it! Our brains must be destroyed!" the scientist shouted angrily. "Do you know what they will do to Olivia?"

Bishop looked weary as he turned away. "Wear gloves. Only my prints are on the syringes, so it will at least look like a murder-suicide."

Some secret so powerful he'd have to kill the only woman he'd ever loved so they'd all be safe?

"And I just inject it into the IV?" Charlie said finally, knowing Olivia would have instructed him to do the same.

Bishop nodded. "Yes."

"Will it hurt her?" Charlie asked, his voice suddenly hoarse.

"She won't feel a thing. Kuru is the laughing sickness due to the pathologic bursts of laughter the afflicted display." Bishop gave a sad smile. "I'm sure it will be nice to die laughing."

"Are you ready?" the younger man asked, setting the box down as Bishop lay back into the saline solution.

"I am."

Charlie paused in shutting the tank's heavy doors. "See you in an hour."

Bishop simply closed his eyes.


	5. Part I:Chapter Five

**TITLE:**  _Chapter Five_

**CHARACTERS:** _Peter Bishop, Walter Bishop_

**POV:** _Peter Bishop_

**GENRE: **_Dark, Surreal_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:** _"Walter pounded his fist to his chest. "Synaptic transfer, my dear boy. I'm the real McCoy!" "_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland, Piggyback ride_

**WORD COUNT:**_ 936_

**WARNINGS:** _None_

**SPOILERS:** _None_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _Special Rush Order for GEEKFREAK03_

**DISCLAIMER:**   unbeta'd

* * *

Peter hadn't left the nursery after everything had gone to shit. He'd simply hid behind the big rocking chair in the corner until the boys had settled down, trying to regain composure; it wasn't right to be scared in one's own mind. At the moment, he wasn't sure how long after, he was teaching Nine how to play solitaire while Five and Two napped on the floor among scattered Legos. Twelve was sitting across from them, watching in curiosity.

"See? Black goes on red," Peter said to Nine, moving a two of clubs onto a three of hearts.

Twelve made a face. "You're not very good at this. Move the seven."

Peter stopped Nine from lifting the card. "No. There's a seven on rotation up in the stack. That would be a better one."

"Not if the king of diamonds is underneath this seven!" Twelve insisted, lifting the seven to reveal a king of diamonds underneath.

Peter frowned at Twelve before saying to Nine, "Fine, move this seven."

Twelve looked smug; Peter had forgotten how big a brat he had been at times.

"Knock, knock!" a familiar voice said at the other side of the door.

"Walter!" Peter shouted, jumping up and charging to the door.

The knob turned and there stood Walter. "I knew I'd find you—Peter!" he exclaimed upon seeing the other Peters in the room.

"Daddy!" the four boys shouted in unison and rushed over to him.

Walter laughed delightedly as the children threw their arms around their father.

Peter stayed back a bit however. "Walter, you're not a figment of my imagination, are you?"

Walter pounded his fist to his chest. "Synaptic transfer, my dear boy. I'm the real McCoy!"

"Oh, thank god," Peter said, absolutely relieved and hugged his father as well.

"God has nothing to do with this, son," Walter murmured into his ear.

When they finally pulled apart, Peter pointed at Twelve. "He said I was hurt. What happened?"

"Daddy brought you some sweeties!" Walter said, ignoring the question and pulling handfuls of butterscotch candies out of his trouser pockets.

The boys cheered and Peter nearly screamed at his father for ignoring the important question, but it became apparent with candy in their mouths, the younger boys wouldn't interrupt them.

Walter offered some of the linty candy to him. "Someone tried to kill you."

"What?" Peter croaked.

"Someone tossed an explosive onto your—yes, I see Peter!" he said enthusiastically to Five who showing him his age on his little fingers, "—tossed an explosive onto the car you, Olivia, and my assistant were driving in."

"I survived," he said breathlessly

"Yes. A miracle."

His stomach churned and his eyes stung with tears. "Oh god, Olivia…"

Walter smiled. "She's fine. Practically untouched. Just brain trauma...You and Astroglide suffered the most damage."

"What happened to Astrid?" Peter asked, feeling bad for forgetting all about the younger woman.

"She was burned, broke her neck...the doctors were afraid she would be paralysed forever, but I saved her," Walter said proudly, sitting down in the rocking chair.

Oh shit. "How?"

"Induced hypothermia. It saved the nerves from swelling and permanently being damaged. She responds to all the tests we've given. She'll walk again, though she'll need plenty of therapy. Well, once she wakes up, that is."

"Is Olivia awake?" he asked hopefully.

"No."

"What about me? Peter, uh, _him_," he pointed to Twelve, "he told me I had suffered head trauma, that I'm in a coma."

"H-h-how do you feel about prosthetic legs?" Walter asked nervously, adjusting the cowboy hat on Five's head.

Peter felt his stomach tighten. "Why are you asking me that?"

"They had to amputate, Peter. Below your left knee." He then added an unenthusiastic, "Chop!"

"Why...?" Peter blanched.

"The car had pinned you...it was the only way they could get you out." Walter gave him a sad smile. "If it's any comfort, the leg looks very real. Very, very real. Very."

He fell to his knees. "Oh god..."

"Daddy, be a pony!" Five shouted happily.

"Of course, my little prince!"

Walter jumped to his feet and helped the little boy onto his back.

"Giddiup!" the child yelled happily as Walter began to gallop around the room.

"Neigh!"

Peter was still reeling from the information. He had lost his leg? There had been a car accident? What was the last thing he remembered?

Arguing with Olivia about how stupid shotgun infinity was...passing the rental car's keys to Astrid...wanting to hold Olivia's hand...

"Neigh! Neigh!"

"Me next, dad!" Nine shouted, finding his own cowboy hat to wear.

"Where was the explosive?" Peter asked, feeling faint.

"They tossed it onto the hood of the car, son. Then you three ran off the road…"

"Whee!" Five cried.

"Nothing makes you realise your own mortality until you have children." Walter leaned down to kiss Two's forehead.

His stomach tightened again. "Olivia was sitting in the backseat… I pushed her out of the passenger seat."

Walter nodded. "You probably saved her life."

"I don't remember what happened!" Peter cried, feeling like an absolute failure.

"You probably never will." Walter turned to the pre-teen Peter. "Son, what time is it?"

Twelve looked down at his calculator watch. "The hour's almost up."

Walter set Five down and after giving each child a hug, he announced, "I'll be back."

Peter grabbed onto his hand. "No, please don't go!"

"I have to." Walter handed out more candy. "But I'll be back. I'm always at your side, holding your hand."

"Please don't go," Peter begged.

Walter kissed his forehead. "I'll be back. Behave."

And with that, the old man was gone.


	6. Part I:Chapter Six

**TITLE:**  _Chapter Six_

**CHARACTERS:** _Charlie Francis, Astrid Farnsworth, Walter Bishop,_

**POV:** _Charlie, Astrid_

**GENRE: **_Dark, Surreal_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY**_**:**__ "Astrid seemed unable to talk for a moment then sputtered, "Am I dead?""_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland, starfish, jellyfish_

**WORD COUNT:** _1502_

**WARNINGS:** _Nudity_

**SPOILERS:** _None_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _I'm a little stunned at how many people like this! The HD version with pictures is at my LJ, if you're curious._

**DISCLAIMER:**   _unbeta'd_

* * *

Having concluded that Charlie's computer program worked successfully to reverse the synaptic transfer process, Dr. Bishop announced their next venture would be into the mind of Astrid.

"Why not Olivia?" Charlie asked as they stood over the junior agent's hospital bed, creeped out by the sound of the wheezing noise of her breathing machine.

"Because Olivia has been within her own mind before and my assistant hasn't. I want to make sure she's not too scared." Bishop pulled up Astrid's eyelid, using a flashlight to peer into her unseeing brown eyes. "You weren't here when she screamed."

Charlie felt his skin prickle. "Is she suffering?"

Bishop shrugged, still checking the young woman's eyes. "I don't know. That's why I need to go in."

Charlie hated being the voice of reason, but it seemed like he'd be the only one to act as such. "How do we place her into the tank without injuring her?"

"We won't be placing her in a tank yet. I'll have to hook her up the way we managed between Olivia and John Scott in the beginning." Bishop reverently touched the young woman's curled hair. "Yes, she'll be a tricky one."

* * *

Astrid was still sobbing, wishing she could just drown, when Walter showed up.

"Ahoy there!" he called out.

He was in a rowboat that floated slowly out towards her in the pitch black. At the head of the boat was a small pole with a lantern balanced on top, illuminating a wonderful blue glow.

"Walter?" she asked, completely startled at his appearance; he was clad in an old fashioned captain's uniform, hat and all. "Walter!"

"Hah hah! You're naked!" he laughed, pointing down at her as the rowboat moved along side her.

She pulled her hands up to cover her bare chest. "Jesus Christ, then don't look at me!"

"Imagine you're wearing one of those sea shell bras. Or starfish pasties!" he teased, leaning down and splashing water in her face.

"Shut up and help me into the boat!" she snapped, reaching one arm out to him while she kept the other tightly to her chest.

He grabbed hold and grunted as he tried to pull her up. She felt as though h was about to dislocate her shoulder so she had to abandon her modesty and used her other hand to grab hold of his wrist.

"Ow—careful—" she protested.

He gave a final tug and she landed face first into the bottom of the rowboat.

"Scuba gear!" he cried cheerfully and she realised that indeed, she was wearing a wet suit with a heavy oxygen tank on her back.

She was a little puzzled at why she was missing flippers and goggles, though she didn't think too much about it as she pulled off the tank on her back.

Walter was still leaning somewhat over the edge of the boat. "Look!"

She looked over the edge and gasped.

"Jellyfish," she said in wonder as the electric blue creatures swam beneath them. Walter lowered a hand into the water. "No, careful! They might be poisonous!"

"Only if you want them to be," he said and dragged his fingers through their tentacles. "They tickle!"

"It's like the whole ocean is…wait, this is water," she said stunned, not seeing a hint of red.

He brought his fingers to his mouth and tasted his fingertip. "Sugar water. With the slight hint of lemon."

She shook her head, hardly able to understand the strangeness of it all. "It was blood…it was all warm blood."

He made a face at her. "So why were you floating naked out here in an ocean of blood?"

"I don't know," she whispered softly, then looked up at him, suspicious. "What are you doing here?"

He sat back on a throw cushion beneath the lamp post and adjusted his captain's hate. "Synaptic transfer."

Astrid seemed unable to talk for a moment then sputtered, "Am I dead?"

He laughed, sounding amused. "No! You were in a car accident…well, more like an attack that resulted in a car accident."

"I remember leaving the parking garage…" she blanched. "Oh God, are Peter and Olivia okay?!"

"They're fine, fine. I just talked to Peter the day before yesterday, in fact!" he assured her

"Day before yesterday?" She thought a moment and realised what Walter meant. "He's…not awake, is he?"

"But he's alive," he said.

She sat down across from him, on a throw pillow as well. "How badly was I hurt?"

"You broke your neck," he placed a finger on her lips to silence her, "but you'll be able to walk. You're responding to all the proper stimuli. And you were severely burned on your legs and your left arm. You had to have skin grafts."

"It could have been worse," she said, ever the optimist. "At least I'm not paralysed. And I'm all in one piece, right?"

Walter's next words were barely a whisper. "Peter lost a leg."

She felt her heart stop. "Oh Walter…I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Did you tell him?"

"He was very upset."

"Of course."

He gave her a weak smile. "But he has a new one…based of a design Belly and I once worked on."

"He's lucky to have you," she said with a nod. "What about Olivia?"

"Head trauma." He glanced up at the sky. "Why is it so dark?"

She looked upwards for a moment then shrugged. "I don't know."

"It's almost dawn." He pointed to the horizon, which indeed was far lighter than before.

She could see the boat seemed to have a mind of its own and was steering them towards land. "We're almost at shore."

"Your mind is an interesting place," he declared.

She would rather be in the boring real world. "I suppose so."

"And beautiful. I like the ocean. And these jellyfish are so colourful!"

She ran her fingers through her hair. "I wonder why I've imagined them."

"Difficult to say."

"Does it really matter?"

"The mind is a delicate thing. It believes in symbols. Obviously the jellyfish mean something."

She tried to imagine what jellyfish could possibly mean, but that part of her mind seemed blocked.

"My head hurts," she hissed.

He reached out and began to massage his fingers in her scalp; she relaxed, deciding to lay her head in his lap.

"So I'm not dead," she said, her original suspicions quashed.

"Not hardly. I saved your life!" Walter said proudly, rubbing his fingertips on her temples.

"And someone tried to kill me…er, us." She closed her eyes. "Do you know who was specifically targeted?"

"No." His fingers paused, "Astringent, you know you are a key to the Pattern, don't you?"

"I don't believe in coincidence. I think everything happens for a reason. So yes."

His fingers continued moving again.

"I want to connect your mind with Olivia's and Peter's. To see if maybe you can discover what someone is trying to silence."

"Okay." She peeked one eye open. "It's not going to hurt is it?"

"Not at all," he said shaking his head and she closed her eyes once more.

"Are you doing this all by yourself?" she asked, wondering if there were new agents running around to follow his every whim.

"No. Agent Francis is helping me."

At this, Astrid sat up, her eyes wide open. "Charlie?"

Walter grimaced. "He's not very good help, but he's the only one I trust."

"He's in love with Olivia, I think," Astrid said, laying her head back down.

"I couldn't agree more," he grumbled.

She sighed. "When do you think I'll wake up?"

"I don't know if you want to yet. Maybe after your skin grafts have healed a bit more. You scream in your sleep."

"I thought I was in an ocean of blood," she explained.

The boat rocked slightly and she realised they had reached the shore. They stood up and Walter disembarked first, offering out a hand to help her out of the boat. A slight breeze teased at the hem of the dress she was now wearing, something definitely more comfortable than the wetsuit.

Leading her by the hand, he took her up to a section of the beach illuminated by tiki torches. "Wait here."

"Where are you going?" she asked, suddenly nervous.

He gave her a sad smile. "I have to return. To out there."

She felt her eyes water. "When will you be back?"

"In a few days at the latest." He took his captain's hat off. "If I may give you some advice."

"Always," she said as she sat down on a large piece of driftwood that appeared to have once been a tree.

"The happier the thoughts, the nicer the surroundings," he suggested, handing her a piece of candy wrapped to look like a strawberry.

"Okay." She felt childish, but she had to request, "Please hurry back. I don't like to be alone for so long."

"Happy thoughts, my dear," Walter repeated once more before fading out completely, leaving Astrid by herself on the beach.


	7. Part I:Chapter Seven

**TITLE:**  _Chapter Seven_

**CHARACTERS:**_ Charlie Francis, Walter Bishop, Olivia Dunham, Astrid Farnsworth, Peter Bishop_

**POV:**_ Charlie, Astrid, Peter._

**GENRE: **_Dark, Surreal_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:** _"Bishop lay back into the saline and Charlie began to shut the tank's heavy doors. "Godspeed, Dr. Bishop." "_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland, peg leg_

**WORD COUNT:**_ 1124_

**WARNINGS:** _None _

**SPOILERS:** _None_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _Sweet monkey in a bottle, I can't believe these chapters are in such high demand! :D_

**DISCLAIMER:** _ unbeta'd. as always._

* * *

Charlie watched Dr. Bishop climb into the saline tank once more then glanced across the room where Astrid and Olivia lay in their respective hospital beds. They had been moved into the special, secure room earlier this morning; their attending nurses hadn't been too pleased to see their patients being moved into a location under constant lock down, but Charlie, Broyles and Dr. Bishop all assured them that the women would be completely safe. Peter had been moved into the room last night, resting next to Dr. Bishop's cot. He wasn't needed yet, so he was simply being kept out of the way.

Charlie was still somewhat nervous about Olivia being put through this dangerous exercise, wishing that she would wake from her coma and everything would be all right. Honestly, he had been horrified to hear she had not only done this once before, but multiple times.

Dr. Bishops somber voice broke him from his thoughts. "Remember—"

"I'll inject you if something goes wrong," Charlie said with a nod.

"Very good."

Bishop lay back into the saline and Charlie began to shut the tank's heavy doors. "Godspeed, Dr. Bishop."

"Thank you, Chip."

* * *

Astrid was humming as she picked up pea-sized pearls that had washed up on shore when she heard voices out at sea. It was still fairly dark, dawn having yet to completely arrive.

"Are we there yet, Captain?" a faint voice asked.

"Almost!"

"Walter?" Astrid called out, forgetting about her mindless task.

"Astrid?" a woman yelled back.

Astrid's eyes widened upon recognising the voice. "Olivia, is that you?"

The rowboat appeared from the slight fog and there stood Olivia wearing the same work uniform she had on everyday. "Astrid!"

Olivia jumped off the boat, splashing in the shoreline and Astrid ran out into the water, holding up the hem of the long silver dress she was wearing to throw their arms around one another. It didn't matter that they weren't more than work acquaintances in the real world, it was just such a relief to see someone, _anyone_, after an uncountable amount of time alone.

"This looks much nicer," Walter admitted once the two women broke their embrace, looking around him.

"I did some work on it," Astrid admitted modestly, one of her hands resting on Olivia's arm. "It's so nice to see familiar faces."

The blonde returned the smile. "I know."

Walter was now wearing a pith helmet and a khaki safari outfit, using a piece of drift wood to poke at a little crab scuttling by. "Logical thinkers have a harder time manipulating their minds…this truly is a fantastic place."

"I'm currently going with an Alice in Wonderland theme," she joked, then looked at Olivia curiously. "Where were you?"

Olivia's tone suggested she didn't want to say any more. "I was at a boat dock."

"Oh. When Walter found me, I was in the ocean. I think." Astrid shuddered, whishing she could forget. "So what are you doing here? Did you wake up?"

"No. Walter's teaching me how to find my way here. Since we're not working off memories, it's a little different then what I was doing with John's memories." Olivia's button-up shirt seemed to have a hard time staying light blue, struggling to return to white. "So why are you wearing a ball gown at the beach?"

Astrid grinned, feeling a little stupid for how she was dressed. "Mostly because it won't get ruined this way. Also, I could never afford it before."

"Olivia can't control her world," Walter said as he studied the pearls littering the beach.

Olivia's cheeks flushed. "I'm trying."

"That's okay. You can wear whatever you want." Astrid stumbled slightly as there was a loud reverberating noise that seemed to make the whole world vibrate. "What was that?!"

Walter kicked sand at the little crab trying o get away as he said, "Oh, I think that's my cue. Olivia, you'll stay here until I come back."

The blonde nodded. "Okay."

Walter faded into the mist and Astrid looked at her companion.

"Want to go explore?"

Olivia smiled. "Sure."

* * *

Peter sat on the plush tan carpet of the nursery floor, trying to build a house of cards with Two and Nine, who had unnaturally steady hands. So far they'd made it three levels tall and he was fairly proud to see that he'd accomplished it; normally he'd end up accidentally brushing his fingers across part of the support and it woul—

There was knocking on the door and Peter jumped up, sending the cards tumbling to the ground.

"Walter!" he shouted, throwing open the door.

"I brought Fudgecicles!" his father announced, offering the treats to the children, who had gathered around for hugs.

Five adjusted his eyepatch. "Look at me, Dad! I'm a pirate!"

"Is that a peg leg?!" Walter exclaimed in glee.

Peter didn't look at Five. "He's been like that since you left."

Walter handed him one of the ice cream treats. "Peter, you haven't looked at your leg yet, have you?"

"No."

"He's afraid of what he'll see," Twelve announced.

Peter felt chills go up his spine. "It's like I can't even feel it's there. Like there might be something empty underneath."

Walter gave him an understanding smile. "It's there. I promise."

"I don't want to look."

"Daddy will hold your hand," Five said, his face messy with the fudge.

Peter pulled his hands out of his father's reach. "I don't need you to hold my hand."

He took a deep breath and rolled up his pant leg, though his eyes were squeezed shut.

"Look," his Walter instructed softly.

Peter opened his eyes and let out a relieved sigh. "It's still there! It's still there."

Walter snorted. "Of course it is. Did you think it would disappear?"

"Yes," he admitted.

Five's peg leg had disappeared.

Walter littered the carpet with his own Fudgesicle wrapper; it sank into the carpet and disappeared. "The doctors said you had a tattoo on that leg."

"It looked like this." Twelve pulled up his pant leg to reveal a large black Ouroboros on the side of his calf muscle.

"Tattletale," Peter grumbled.

"Peter, I can't believe you got a tattoo," Walter complained, pulling out a handkerchief, which he wet with his tongue, then proceeded to try to remove the black mark from Twelve's leg.

"I was seventeen, Walter. I wasn't thinking." Peter's lips twitched into a smile. "Also, it looked kinda cool."

"Of course it looks cool, but that doesn't mean you should have done it. You could have gotten sick from it!"

Peter rolled his eyes. "How are Olivia and Astrid?"

Walter was suddenly wearing a captain's outfit and he smiled up at him.

"Would you like to see them?"


	8. Part I:Chapter Eight

**TITLE:**  _Chapter Eight_

**CHARACTERS:** _Olivia Dunham, Astrid Farnsworth, Walter Bishop, Peter Bishop_

**POV: **_Astrid_

**GENRE: **_Dark, Surreal_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:** _" "It's hard to say." Astrid hated sounding paranoid, but felt it would be best to bring up something that had been on her mind for a while now. "You know, I think Walter's doing this for reasons that he hasn't yet said." "_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland, drier sheets_

**WORD COUNT:** _1218_

**WARNINGS:** _None_

**SPOILERS:** _None_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _Thank you for all the feedback :)_

**DISCLAIMER:**   _unbeta'd_

* * *

Astrid was still wearing the silver gown as she wandered through a magnificent red wood forest with Olivia. The sky seemed slightly brighter as if it had finally reached dawn and the sound of birds singing high up in the canopy, reached their ears as a soft, melodic background noise. There was a path between the trees of damp, rich soil, a deliciously real and wonderful sensation beneath her bare feet.

"So is this supposed to be any place in particular?" Olivia asked, some time later, pausing to look at some oyster mushrooms growing on the trees.

Astrid shook her head and picked a daisy growing on the side of path, putting it in her hair. "No. Just something I thought would be beautiful."

"It really is, all these bright colours. And you did this all by yourself?"

"There are no limitations here. If you can imagine it, you'll see it."

Olivia tugged at her suit sleeves and grumbled, "I want to get out of these work clothes."

"What would you rather wear?" Astrid asked, curious.

"Something comfortable?" Olivia's clothes flickered into her pyjamas. "Okay, not these."

As they faded back the suit, Astrid mused, "Do you like sweatpants?"

"Not really," Olivia said, looking a little amused.

"Jeans?" she offered.

Olivia nodded as she looked down at the clothes Astrid had created. "That's better. How do you do it?"

"I had to imagine you in them."

"But how are you able to continue imagining it when you're not concentrating on it?" The jeans started to become dark and trouser-like. "Damn it! See?"

"Olivia Dunham, you're wearing what I put you in," Astrid announced loudly and the clothes returned to what she had changed them into. "See? I made it a fact. Here in my world you are wearing jeans and a nice sweater. I know it's not real out there, but it's real in here."

Olivia's entire face lit up. "Oh, I get it. Fact: I am wearing underwear and a bra."

"Oh, sorry," Astrid said, her cheeks getting red.

Olivia didn't seem to hear as she paused, looking around them. "Jeez, how long have we been walking?"

Astrid shrugged. "Hard to say. C'mon, let's see how far away we wandered from shore."

Astrid's dress immediately shortened to something knee length as she began to climb up a nearby redwood, using the oyster mushrooms as foot holds while she gripped the bark. She could hear Olivia following not far behind and after a few minutes reached one of the top branches. Far away was the ocean, a bare glimmer on the horizon. It was far brighter up here and as Astrid stood on the heavy branch with Olivia next to her, she wondered how large she could make this fantasy world in her mind.

The blonde said, pointing off to the sea. "We're miles away!"

"Yeah. But look at the view!" Astrid said, feeling proud she had managed to make something so magnificent, even if it wasn't real.

Even though they had to be at least a hundred feet up, Astrid leapt off the branch and yelled out, "Jump!"

She landed on a thick bed of moss and tumbled down on to the path, laughing as she finally balanced herself enough to get back onto her feet.

Olivia however didn't seem to look so sure. "I'm afraid I'll break my leg."

"You won't," Astrid promised, brushing dirt off her knees.

"But I know that a jump from a tall height will." Olivia looked down at her nervously. "Sorry. I can't turn logic off."

"Hold on," Astrid said and before she knew it, a harness appeared around Liv, attached to a secure rope.

"Thank you," Liv called out as she repelled down the tree trunk.

"No problem," Astrid said, a little confused at why Olivia couldn't just play along—this was like living in a dream.

As Astrid helped her out of the harness, Olivia took a deep breath and said, "Walter said you were really hurt."

Astrid didn't like to think about it. "Yeah. I guess I broke my neck."

"He said he saved the nerves by insisting that the doctors put you into a state of induced hypothermia. Like when you put ice on a sprained ankle."

This new information made her chest tighten; he really had saved her. "We're pretty lucky that we weren't hurt worse, you know."

"He said I had major intracranial trauma." Olivia looked a little bitter. "But that's not why I can't imagine things. I've never been someone who thinks outside the box. Symbolism, fantasy, being creative…that just doesn't come naturally to me. You're lucky, you know. I hated it in my mind. I pretty much just stood at the end of that dock, waiting."

"For what?"

"I don't know." Olivia sat on her heels, rubbing some of the dark soil between her thumb and forefinger. "How long do you think we'll be here?"

"It's hard to say." Astrid hated sounding paranoid, but felt it would be best to bring up something that had been on her mind for a while now. "You know, I think Walter's doing this for reasons that he hasn't yet said."

"I thought maybe I was going crazy. I suspect it, too." Suddenly Olivia snapped her head around to look back down the path they had come. "Peter's here."

This startled Astrid. "What?"

"Peter's here. I can feel him." A wide smile graced the blonde's face and she shouted out, "PETER!"

"Come on!" Olivia shouted as she began to dash back down the path. "PETER!!!"

Astrid quickly ran after her, calling out, "Peter!"

"This way!" Olivia took a shortcut through the trees. "Peter! It's Olivia!"

They were running fast enough that the surroundings were nothing more than blurs; Astrid wondered how Olivia had been able to sense the change in this world when she didn't herself. But she didn't have time to dwell on the matter as the reached the beach, stumbling across the fine sand as they saw the rowboat emerging from the last remaining hints of morning mist, the sun having finally risen from over the horizon.

Upon seeing them, Peter jumped out of the boat, wading to shore. "It smells like…drier sheets. The Downy kind."

"My favourite scent. And the breeze smells like ripening lemons." Astrid grinned and hugged him. "It's good to see you, Peter."

He held her rather tightly and when they finally pulled away she didn't miss the look he gave to Olivia.

"Hi," the blonde said breathlessly.

He nodded and approached her slowly. "Hello. How are you doing?"

"Pretty good," she replied as she began to blush.

Almost oblivious to what was going on, Walter shouted a happy, "Good morning!"

Peter and Olivia quickly stepped away from one another and Olivia quickly asked, "Walter, why did you bring us in on that dingy?"

"To give your minds a chance to acclimate to one other!" he said, jumping off the boat onto the sand.

Peter pointed to her dress. "Having a tea party?"

"No, I just felt like wearing a dress," she snipped, wondering why everyone was so shocked to see her in something other than trousers.

Peter placed his hands on his hips and surveyed the area. "This place is really nice. New Zealand?"

"_Wonderland_," Olivia said with a big grin.


	9. Part I:Chapter Nine

**TITLE:**  _Chapter Nine_

**PAIRING:**  _Charlie/Olivia_

**CHARACTERS:** _Charlie Francis, Phillip Broyles, Nina Sharp_

**GENRE: **_Dark, Angst_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:** _"Dr. Bishop had given him strict orders not to talk to anyone about what they did. "No details, no nothing, Chip! They are waiting for you to slip up!""_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland, Limo, Palm_

**WORD COUNT:** _912_

**WARNINGS:** _None_

**SPOILERS:** _None_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _I really appreciate the feedback I've been getting!_

**DISCLAIMER:**   _unbeta'd_

* * *

One of the first unwritten rules of working as a government employee was don't get involved with co-workers. Well, it was a written rule too, but the written version really just meant "don't get caught". No, it was utterly wrong to get involved and then fall in love with a co-worker. Especially when said co-worker was blind to those feelings. Honestly, loving Olivia was one of the worst possible things Charlie imagined he could do. There were so many elements to the matter that made it wrong: betraying the commitment as her partner, jeopardising his working ethic, the risk of letting his emotions endanger her…She could ask for anything and he would gladly give it to her. And his position as a supervisor in the FBI had provided him with that very power; though her requests came by formal paperwork, his responses always remained lovesick and docile.

In this moment, he stood by her bedside, listening to the gentle "Beep! Beep!" of her heart, watching her chest rise and fall. He couldn't believe there was only a two and a half year difference between the two of them, she seemed like such a different being then him. She was enchanting, alluring, a one in a million life he was sure he'd never see the likes of again. He was extra-gentle as he stroked his fingers along the inside of her wrist, letting them finally rest in her palm. His wife Sonia often wondered why he spent so much time here at the hospital, curious what exactly was so important.

Charlie couldn't help but smile as he looked down at her. She always looked beautiful, even when her eyes had been swollen shut, even with those horrible stitches on the back and side of her head.

"Oh, Liv," he murmured, wishing her hand would wrap around his own fingers. "I'm so sorry. It was my fault you took that route to the office. I was the one who programmed the rental's GPS.

"I thought you'd be driving and I didn't want you distracted by maps…I'm sorry. I thought that taking the shortcut I programmed in would make you happy, but instead it put you on the freeway…and there were too many cars for you to notice whomever was following you…it was my fault. Forgive me."

* * *

"Charlie, do you have a moment?"

He had been on his way to his car when Broyles met up with him in the parking lot. Something about the man's pleasant demeanor didn't seem right, but Charlie nodded regardless.

"Yes, sir."

Broyles led him to a waiting limousine and climbed inside. Sitting with a tumbler of some dark drink was none other than Massive Dynamic's Nina Sharp.

"Hello ma'am," he said politely to the redhead who gave him a predatory smile.

"Good evening, Agent Francis."

Broyles entered the vehicle as well and shut the door behind him. The hair on the back of Charlie's neck stood up and realised immediately that he had made a huge mistake by getting in. He was outnumbered two to one and now they had him in their territory.

"Charlie, we were wondering if you could answer a few questions for us."

"We firstly wanted to know how Peter, Olivia, and Astrid are doing."

Dr. Bishop had given him strict orders not to talk to anyone about what they did. _"No details, no nothing, Chip! They are waiting for you to slip up!"_

However, this information could be found on the hospital records, so he decided it would hurt to say.

"They're doing fine."

Sharp nodded, looking pleased. "Good, good. And the equipment is working fine?"

He was started to feel claustrophobic. "I don't use it, so I wouldn't know."

"Oh, so it's only Dr. Bishop who uses it," Broyles said.

"I believe so."

Sharp gave him an innocent look that was worthy of an Oscar. "Can you tell us what he does? That sure is a lot to do by himself."

"I'm sorry, I don't know the names of the procedures," Charlie said nervously.

She smiled. "That's all right. You can describe them."

He could feel his heart pounding as both Broyles and Sharp looked at him expectantly. A wave of anxiety rushed through him and the sudden feeling of something moving on his thigh made him jump in his seat. He scrambled to pull out his vibrating cellphone of his trouser pockets.

"Hi, honey," said breathlessly as he answered the call.

His wife's cheerful voice came as a relief to him. "Hi, sweetheart! I was just calling to tell you that I bought home a roast for dinner and rented your favourite movie from Blockbuster."

He had stopped liking "Poltergeist" after seeing the kid with his brains melted out.

"Where are you?" she asked.

He looked away from Sharp, whose smile didn't quite meet her eyes. "In the parking lot. I'm on my way home right now."

Unaware of the situation he was in, Sonia gave an enthusiastic, "Great! See you at home!"

"Bye."

He snapped his phone shut and looked up at the other two passengers.

In the most un-Broyles manner yet, the DHS agent clapped him on the shoulder and opened the limousine's door for him. "Well, we don't want to keep you away from anything."

As Charlie hurried to get out of the vehicle he gave a very insincere, "Sorry I couldn't help you more."

Perhaps Walter Bishop wasn't as paranoid as Charlie had originally thought.


	10. Part I:Chapter Ten

**TITLE:**  _Chapter Ten_

**CHARACTERS:** _Astrid Farnsworth, Walter Bishop, Charlie Francis_

**POV: **_Astrid, Charlie_

**GENRE: **_Dark, Surreal_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:** _"The smile slowly left her face and she studied his face. "Walter, is there something aren't telling me?" "_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland_

**WORD COUNT:** _1336_

**WARNINGS:** _None_

**SPOILERS:** _None_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _Nothing specific_

**DISCLAIMER:**   _unbeta'd_

* * *

Astrid sat on the large driftwood tree on the beach next to Walter whom had just come back from returning Olivia and Peter to their respective minds. The world's sky had returned to its dusk-like appearance, slightly cloudy out to sea. Together they looked out at the dark water, quiet as they listened the sound of the ocean. She was a little more accepting to the fact she would be alone for at least two days this time; at least she'd have plenty of time to explore this world she had made.

"Walter," she said quietly, fumbling with the hemline of her dress.

"Yes, my dear?" he asked, rolling two small bronze spheres through his fingers.

Their section of the beach was surrounded by the burning tiki torches that sent wafts of smoke that smelled like pina coladas and strawberry daiquiris. To be honest, she didn't know if that was her or his doing.

She took a deep breath. "You said I was hurt."

"But I saved you," he assured fervently.

"I know." Her fingers stopped toying with her dress. "I guess what I want to ask is if I'm going to be disfigured."

"Oh, how vanity afflicts us all," he said softly as he melted the two spheres into one and dropped the single ball into the sand at his feet. "Your face is fine. The bruising is mostly gone and almost all your cuts have healed. But the burns on your body burns will leave scars."

"That's fine. Just as long as my face isn't all messed up." She sighed, feeling relieved—of course it was a superficial want, but honestly, would anyone be okay with their visage being altered negatively?

He took her arm and began to trace out a design onto her arm, which she recognised as scar tissue. Obviously, he was illustrating to her what her injuries looked like.

"The marks on your leg and arm will easily be passed off as interesting battle wounds." Walter cocked his head and gave her a slightly puzzled look. "Is that the ocean?"

She nodded. "I think so. Why?"

He chuckled darkly as he continued to trace the wound out for her. "I think you're hearing the mechanical respirator."

"What do you mean?" she asked, watching the 'healed' burn continue to expand and morph across the inside of her arm.

He shrugged casually. "You're hooked up to a breathing machine."

Her voice broke slightly, the precursor to fearful crying. "Why? Because I broke my neck?"

"No, your lungs were damaged from the heat of the fire."

Her throat began to burn, almost too painful for her to ask. "Will…"

He nodded and patted her knee. "They'll get better."

Astrid let out a long, relieved sigh, small fire coloured sparks floating on her exhale. The mechanical rhythm soon settled back into the much more natural sounding murmur of the ocean waves.

Walter shifted slightly on the driftwood tree. "I have something to ask of you."

She nodded. "Of course."

"I think your brain would be best to use as the hub for the three of you to reside in."

The caught her off guard. "Why?"

"Peter harbours many demons and he cherishes his privacy. Olivia, while she is a very smart woman, lacks the creativity to open her mind to symbols. Also, she has a hard time separating herself from the fantasy a synaptic transfer creates. We would risk her losing herself as well as trapping the rest of you." Walter spoke slowly and precisely, making her wonder how long he had rehearsed telling her this. "I feel you would make a good mediator. You could keep the world fantasy enough that the three of you would know it wasn't actual reality, while opening your psyche up enough that we could continue to study the Pattern."

She couldn't argue with logic or destiny. "Would it be safe?"

His next words were hesitant. "I promise I will make it as safe as I possibly can."

"Walter…" She slipped her hand on top of his. "I have a very low pain tolerance. I don't want to wake up if I'm going to be in a lot of pain."

He looked a little surprised. "I have your permission to keep you in a coma then?"

"Please." She felt relieved that she wouldn't wake up to unbearable pain. "It won't affect my mind, will it?"

He shrugged. "I don't believe so. John Scott was in an artificially induced coma when we let Olivia explore his mind."

"Will traces of them get stuck in me?" she said squeamishly.

"Perhaps a bit. They will know how to exit, so that problem will be less likely."

Astrid felt her skin prickle and her stomach churn. "I'm so scared."

"Of what?"

"All this. It's intimidating to think I'll be responsible for them."

He produced a GI's helmet from World War One and placed it firmly atop her head. "Life's tough. Wear a helmet."

She laughed and adjusted it to sit more comfortably on her curly hair. They watched the ocean a little longer and then she realised there was something she should have asked a while ago, but hadn't really occurred to her until now.

"Has my family come to visit?"

"Once." He drew a spiral in the sand with his toe. "They said something about a long trip for them to make."

Though she had been born in Pennsylvania, her family had relocated to Alabama not long after her seventh birthday. She could imagine her mother, her aunts, and her cousins making the flight from Birmingham, all flustered to come check her. She could also imagine that a lot of money was spent and they wouldn't be able to come back anytime soon.

"It is," she said as she filled the sand spiral with pearls from the beach.

"I promised them you were receiving the best of care and they send you get well cards and daffodils," Walter said as yellow flowers began to wash up on the shore.

Astrid rubbed the scars off her arm. "Am I?"

"Of course. It would be a shame to lose a body as limber as yours."

She couldn't help but crack a smile. "Not that limber. I haven't been to yoga in forever."

"No matter. You have more important things than yoga to worry about," he murmured.

The smile slowly left her face and she studied his face. "Walter, is there something aren't telling me?"

He was quiet for a moment before replying, "What makes you say that?"

Her eyes narrowed. "You're hiding something, aren't you?"

The older man stood up abruptly. "I need to leave."

"Walter."

"Take care of yourself." He looked away from her and faded away.

Astrid yanked the helmet off her head and threw it at the area he had been in. "Walter!"

* * *

Charlie watched Dr. Bishop, whom had finished drying off and dressing behind the privacy curtain in the corner. At the moment he was digging through a mess of papers on his personal desk, scattering them everywhere. Charlie approached the older man slowly and asked, "What are you doing?"

"I was looking for my permanent marker," he mumbled.

Charlie opened the top drawer and pulled it out. "It's right here, Dr. Bishop."

The man snatched it from him and went back to the far corner of the room with the privacy curtain. Charlie followed him, curious what the scientist was doing. It appeared the corner tile of linoleum was loose and that Bishop had pried it up. He began to write on the back of the tile and the young agent frowned.

"What are you doing?"

The scientist handed the Sharpie back to him and muttered, "I'm labeling the world in which they reside."

Charlie knelt down next to him. "Why?"

Bishop set the tile down and looked back up at him. "So that we know what to call it."

"What is it called?"

Bishop pulled the tile up again and showed it to Charlie.

_The Wonderland Complex_


	11. Part I:Chapter Eleven

**TITLE:**  _Chapter Eleven_

**CHARACTERS:** _Rachel Dunham, Charlie Francis, Olivia Dunham, Peter Bishop, Astrid Farnsworth, Walter Bishop_

**POV: **_Rachel, Walter_

**GENRE: **_Dark_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:** _The four year old peered curiously at Olivia and asked, "Mommy, is Aunt Liv sleeping?"_

**CHALLENGE: **_hospital, black cherry, jello_

**WORD COUNT:** _1113_

**WARNINGS:** _none_

**SPOILERS:** _none_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _This was one of my favourite chapters to write._

**DISCLAIMER:**_   unbeta'd_

* * *

Rachel Dunham had never felt guiltier in her life than when she received the knock on her sister's apartment door by a man named Agent Charlie Francis. It had been evening and she had already called Olivia's cell phone about seven times, angry that her sister wasn't picking up to answer her calls; she'd made reservations at Spago's Italian Pizzeria and Games for a fun night to take some of the stress off Olivia's mind and she had needed to confirm the time with her, so they would be able to make it. Rachel had thrown the door open, pissed as hell that Olivia still hadn't called back and the moment she saw Agent Francis' face, she'd known something was terribly wrong.

"_There's been an accident…"_

Agent Francis had left an agent to watch Ella while he took Rachel to the fancy, private hospital where her sister lay in critical condition. Oh, how she had cried when she saw her sister's bruised and broken body from behind the glass wall looking into her room; here she'd been furious with Olivia whom had been dying under a burning car the whole time.

She'd stayed the whole night, that first day, talking to any nurse who walked by, begging for answers. Olivia had lost a lot of blood, the left side of her skull had been crushed, and two of her ribs had snapped and punctured her lungs. While Rachel's basic knowledge of medicine and the human body had mostly been gained from watching a lot of House, MD after putting Ella to bed, she understood that her sister was in very bad shape. It was around four-thirty in the morning when one of the doctors had mercifully allowed her into the room to see her sister..

She'd entered the room tentatively, Agent Francis walking behind her and together they were able to see the damage done to the blonde FBI agent. Olivia's eyes were swollen shut and she was attached to all sorts of machines that monitored her heart and helped her breathe, things that Rachel had a very hard time looking at. The doctor had explained Olivia was in a coma, one listed as "severe" on the medical charts.

"So, she'll be like this for a while?" Agent Francis had asked mournfully.

"Unfortunately," the doctor said emotionlessly.

Rachel had looked at her sister's bandaged hands and after wiping away her tears, quietly asked, "Can I hold her hand?"

The doctor nodded. "_Gently_."

* * *

The second time she came to visit her sister, Rachel brought Ella along with her.

To be honest, Rachel didn't like this private hospital at all. Sure it seemed to have better medical equipment and staff than a public one, and the interior was beautiful—clean glass, brushed metal and hints of sea glass green paint everywhere—but it was so unnaturally quiet. The nurses in their quaint uniforms looked like they might have come straight out of a vintage film with their little caps and starched aprons. But their white shoes hardly made a noise as the walked along the tiled floors. And Rachel had seen other families in the lobby, but they were just as silent as the facility's staff.

And she didn't like the fact that she needed to call ahead to the hospital to schedule a visit to see her sister. While she appreciated the care Olivia was receiving, they shouldn't have the right to tell her that Liv would be "busy" then. Rachel felt like the hospital was a crypt, and the bodies here were simply waiting to die.

Olivia was in a new room this time with Peter and the black girl that she'd never met. Rachel was quick to pull the curtain around the girl's bed and did the same for Peter's bed so that only her sister showed—she didn't want Ella to see anything this horrible yet.

Not that her daughter understood what any of it meant.

The four year old peered curiously at Olivia and asked, "Mommy, is Aunt Liv sleeping?"

"Uh, kinda." Rachel was very, very thankful that indeed her sister simply looked like she was sleeping. "Aunt Liv was hurt really bad and her body doesn't want to wake up until she's better."

Ella gently touched Olivia's bedsheet. "Could we wake her up? I want to tell her about my new dress."

Rachel gathered her daughter up in her arms. "We can't wake her up yet. She needs to rest a little longer."

"Why is her hair cut like a boy?" Ella giggled, studying the left side of Olivia's head, which had been shaved upon her arrival to the hospital so that the doctors could perform surgery on her.

"So that the doctors could take care of her," she explained, holding the little girl close to her.

"Will she be awake next time?"

Rachel simply didn't know what to say.

* * *

Walter lived in the room with the equipment because he was afraid that if he left, someone would come in and see what he was doing. He was sure that Nina Sharp and Agent Broyles knew that he was conducting synaptic transfers, but they didn't know what he had planned for further on. Because he never left the room, he had to learn how to adjust his recent freedom to fit within the large square pseudo-laboratory.

He had sponge bathes from the sink with dish soap and used the facilities with the door open. Agent Francis brought him tasty meals, sometimes ones home cooked by Mrs. Agent Francis (his favourite so far were the chicken dishes, though he was definitely warming up to the spaghetti squash that was treated like pasta) and he often made himself green Jello that tasted like black cherry.

The bodies of Peter, Olivia, and Afro stayed inside the room with him, the women's beds lined against the north wall, while he and Peter slept on the south side. Nothing was more relaxing than reading his copy of Doris Day's biography while their three heart monitors beeped quietly in the background. He enjoyed getting to sleep beside his son, feeling very safe knowing Peter was there. He knew if he was ever in trouble, Peter would come to his aid. And the best part was that he could hold his son's hand as he began to drift off.

"Row, row, row your boat…"


	12. Part I:Chapter Twelve

**TITLE:** _Chapter Twelve_

**CHARACTERS:** _September/the Observer_

**POV: **_September/the Observer_

**GENRE: **_Dark_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:** _"Maybe their carbons were mixed in the same way, their chemistry just as extraordinary."_

**CHALLENGE: **_three parts,_

**WORD COUNT:** _473_

**WARNINGS:** _None_

**SPOILERS:** _None_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _Goddamn the Observer is so hot. I'd ttly tap that._

**DISCLAIMER:** _ unbeta'd_

**

* * *

**

_**Upon Arrival to The Temple**_

_**019.48:**_ _Recorded subject twenty-seven "The Sickle" EMT medical status report upon arrival to The Temple at 013.45—_

_Olivia Dunham-  
GCS3ct =E1c V1t M1 08:02 SEVERE  
SBP 51  
RR 9  
RTS: 5 IMMEDIATE_

_(note: Unknown if abilities are affected.)_

_**019.55:**_ _Recorded subject eight/seven "The Wunderkind" EMT medical status report upon arrival to The Temple at 013.45—_

_Astrid Farnsworth-  
GCS3t =E1 V1t M1 07:49 SEVERE  
SBP 4  
RR 5  
RTS: 2 MORGUE _

_(note: With RTS score of 2, The Black Knight and The Guardian insisted special measures were taken with subject eight/seven treatment in spite of MORGUE classification. Full recovery expected regarding nerve trauma.)_

_**020.03:**__ Recorded subject thirty-two "The Embodiment" EMT medical status report upon arrival to The Temple at 013.45—_

_Peter Bishop-  
GCS4c =E1c V1 M2 07:41 SEVERE  
SBP 53  
RR 9  
RTS: 5 IMMEDIATE_

_(note: Significant blood loss, complete amputation and later loss of cnemis, destruction of excess cnemis)_

**End Study**

**

* * *

**

It wasn't hard to gain access to the areas deemed necessary, even when one looked as apparent as him.

And the subjects were considered necessary. It was required to view each individual subject one September pressed his fingertips against the bandaged forearm of The Wunderkind. He could feel her heat through the material and he wondered if the fire that had melted away her epidermis had remained within her. He could picture small flames living inside of her body and he traced the length of her arm, able to smell the seared epidermis that had once covered her limbs. It truly was a triumph that her fingers weren't destroyed.

He felt a certain connection to The Wunderkind, a physical bond. He'd once heard someone use the phrase "cut from the same cloth" and he curiously wondered if they too were made more molecularly similar than most. Maybe their carbons were mixed in the same way, their chemistry just as extraordinary.

One of his hands rested atop her kardia and he felt the slow, steady beat of her life force being pushed and pulled like the tides of Lake Huron three days after the full moon. He could hear it rushing within her, louder than other subjects he had monitored before. The Wunderkind was so unique, so full of potential…

**

* * *

**

_**Day 045**_

_**012.37:**__ No change in subject twenty-seven. Slow recovery, possibility of permanent intracranial injury. Complete recovery from subdural hematoma. No rejection of synaptic transfer process. GCS4 Listed-SEVERE_

_**012.39:**__ No rejection of artificial limb attached to subject thirty-two. No rejection of synaptic transfer process. GCS5 Listed-SEVERE_

_**012.43:**__ No rejection of multiple skin grafts in subject eight/seven. No rejection of synaptic transfer process. GCS7t Listed-SEVERE_

_**015.59:**__ Subject seventy-nine seen entering vehicle with The Red Queen and The Black Knight. _

_**016.07:**__ Subject seventy-nine seen exiting vehicle containing The Red Queen and The Black Knight._

_**016.08:**__ Vehicle containing The Red Queen and The Black Knight departs._

_**016.10:**__ Vehicle containing subject seventy-nine departs._

_**End Study**_


	13. Part I:Chapter Thirteen

**TITLE:**  _Chapter Thirteen_

**CHARACTERS:** _Olivia Dunham, Walter Bishop_

**POV: **_Olivia_

**GENRE: **_Dark, Surreal_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:**_ "She looked in the mirror and frowned; she couldn't see her face, like the glass had fogged already from the steam off the bathwater…"_

**CHALLENGE: **_Bathwater, confusion_

**WORD COUNT:**_ 894_

**WARNINGS:** _None_

**SPOILERS:** _None_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _Nom, our love is like whoa._

**DISCLAIMER:**   _unbeta'd_

* * *

Olivia stood in the entranceway of her apartment, removing her coat and scarf, putting them in their place on her coat tree by the doorway. She kept finding herself here at the entranceway, day after day, the house dark from arriving home so late. She sighed, utterly exhausted from running around the city all-daylong…was that what she had done today? She couldn't really remember, not that it mattered. She sank onto the couch, kicking one foot up onto the white cushions while relaxing the other on the floor. Her head laid on the armrest and she breathed out, closing her eyes momentarily. It was nice to take the weight off her feet and rest. She was sure whatever she had done was exhausting and who knew when the last time she ate was?

She made her way to the kitchen, feeling the slightest of hunger pangs and opened the refrigerator, only to find it empty.

"Jeez, when was the last time you went to the grocery store, Liv? Honestly…"

She shut the door and decided she wasn't starving, so maybe she could indulge in a hot bath before ordering out for pizza. Or Thai.

So Olivia left the kitchen and headed to the master bathroom, turning on the lights as she went. She started the bathwater and after a moment of thought, she found the bottle of bubble bath that she'd stashed away under the bathroom sink. Pouring the ivory liquid in, the small room instantly filled with the rich scent of coconut and lotus as large bubbles began to form on the surface of the hot water.

Making her way back to her bedroom, Olivia began to undress. As always, she carefully folded her clothes as she took them off, setting them on the armchair by her bookcase. But as she padded naked back to the bathroom, her skin prickled for a moment and she paused in the doorway, listening to the silence of her townhouse. No, she must be imagining things because she was so tired. She shook her head and continued into the bathroom, glancing at the mirror above the sink. She looked in the reflective surface and frowned; she couldn't see her face, like the glass had fogged already from the steam off the bathwater…

It didn't really matter—Olivia knew what she looked like. Turning to the bath, she shut off the faucets and slipped in, sighing contently as the hot water made her pale skin a flushed red.

"Like boiling a lobster," she murmured as she sank further in.

The entire townhouse was absolutely silent, the way she liked it. All alone… nothing to bother her… just some relaxing time to herself. She smiled and closed her eyes, feeling her muscles loosen as she allowed herself to unwind from the long, stressful day she'd just had—

"You don't strike me as the bubble bath type of person."

Olivia's eyes shot open and she saw Walter Bishop sitting on the edge of the bathtub, grinning at her mischievously.

Her hands flew to cover her body, but she found the water in the tub had disappeared and she was still wearing the clothes she had come home in.

"W-W-Walter! What are you doing here?!" she sputtered, climbing out of the tub, the heel of her boots banging loudly on the faucet.

"I came to take you back," he said balancing a large soap bubble in the palm of his hand.

"I…I…I thought I was home!" she protested.

"You didn't remember coming home though, did you?" he inquired.

She thought about how it felt like she magically appeared at her front door. "No…"

"Or what you did today?"

"No…I don't."

He gave her a grim smile. "You didn't come home, Olivia. You're still inside your mind."

"Oh god…" She sat down on the edge of the tub and buried her head in her hands. "It was like there was something nagging at me, something I knew was wrong, but I couldn't place."

"It's all right. You've been through a lot," he assured, but she still felt like crying.

"I should've realise though. It seemed so real…" Olivia looked up at him as an epiphany hit her. "The car had a GPS system."

He popped the bubble. "What?"

She could remember very plainly seeing the little device from her seat in the back seat. "The car had OnStar."

He bit at the inside of his cheek. "I'm afraid I don't know what that is."

"It's a tracking system." The dawning realisation made her gasp. "I bet that's how they knew where to find us!"

"It's possible."

"And Charlie had just put it in for us. So we didn't have to rely on maps." She could feel her heart plummet into her stomach. "You don't think Charlie would have…oh god. He couldn't have set us up!"

Walter shook his head. "No, but Agent Broyles would have had access to it."

The hair stood up on the back of Olivia's neck. "Broyles? You really think that—"

"Of course I do! I wouldn't trust that man with anything!" he snapped.

"Does he have access to us—"

"Absolutely not. And neither do those hacks in this hospital. I monitor all of you myself," he said fervently.

"Someone tried to kill us," Olivia murmured.

Walter's hand rested on hers. "And they will most definitely try again.


	14. Part I:Chapter Fourteen

**TITLE:**  _Chapter Fourteen_

**CHARACTERS:** _Astrid Farnsworth, Walter Bishop, Nina Sharp, Nina's Assistant_

**POV: **_Astrid, Nina_

**GENRE: **_Dark, Surreal_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:**_ "Jacqueline…was very special to Nina, no doubt her most favourite possession."_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland, Jacqueline,__giant clam_

**WORD COUNT:** _1052_

**WARNINGS:** _None_

**SPOILERS:**_ None_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _Nina's assistant doesn't actually have a listed character name, so I've simply taken the actor's name who portrays her, "Jacqueline"._

**DISCLAIMER:**   _unbeta'd_

* * *

Astrid had long since abandoned the shimmery gown in favour of a ruby red retro bathing suit and a pair of cut offs as she committed herself to digging giant clams out from the beach sand. Armed with a shovel and panting fiery sparks into the dusky sky, she was working on prying her third grey and purple giant clam out of the sand. It was the size of a recliner and she was crouched on her heels, trying to tug it out by its big shell.

She had no idea how long she'd been waiting for Walter or someone to show up and had decided to busy herself with something other than sitting around on the beach. Going clamming for giant clams wasn't as easy as one might expect—while she had a pretty good hold over her private universe, it was still difficult to tug them out, because some small part of her knew that pulling out a mollusk bigger than her would have to weigh at least a few hundred pounds compared to her eight stone.

"Goddammit," she panted as she tugged at the shell.

The clam was putting up a pretty good fight though and yanked away from her, causing her to fall backwards into the sand.

"Having trouble?"

She looked behind her and saw Walter wearing his usual laboratory fare of a sweater and somewhat rumpled slacks.

"I'm catching clams," she explained before peering back into the hole, where the mollusk was burrowing back down.

"What are you doing with them?"

"I haven't decided," she admitted, looking at the other two she already had on the beach.

"Let's open them! Maybe we'll find treasure!"

"Okay!"

Walter took her shovel and began to pry open one of the shells, grunting as he tried to force the clam open. Astrid on the other hand knew that her sea creature would open without so much effort.

"Open sesame," she whispered before kissing the lips of the clam.

Both mollusks opened and hers revealed a large gold key about the size of her hand. She picked up the ornate key and turned it over in her hands, studying the puzzling object with utmost interest. What on earth was this for?

Walter's clam on the other hand, was a little more straightforward.

"Gummi bears!" he squealed happily as he fell to his knees and began to stuff the multicoloured candy into his mouth.

Astrid slipped the key into one of her cutoff's pockets and went over to help herself to the candy.

"You're Alice Pleasance Liddell," Walter said through a mouthful of gummi bears.

She sat down onto the edge of his clamshell. "You think so?"

"This is the world beyond the looking glass," he said as he put a yellow candy into her hand. "And everyone knows the story."

"I loved reading the books as a child," she admitted.

"And I would read it to Peter." He paused. "His mother utterly hated the story, I hate to say. She wasn't someone who appreciated stories of the fantastic and imaginative. She was more of a biography and historical records type of woman."

"Not exactly what I would call "fun"," Astrid said, picking out more of the lemon gummies.

Walter smirked, then sat down on the sand, looking up at her. "If I were to bring the others back here, would you take care of them?"

"Of course," she replied without hesitation.

"Then I'll bring them back here. Once I finish with this," he said, pointing to mound of candy still yet to be eaten.

Astrid smiled and turned her attention out to the sea.

"Whenever you're ready."

* * *

Nina beckoned the fingers on her right hand, minute mechanics at work. It was late afternoon, nearing evening and she readying her office to leave early as she always did on Tuesdays. Several minutes later, her assistant Jacqueline appeared out of the private lift, striding elegantly towards her.

Jacqueline…was very _special_ to Nina, no doubt her most favourite possession. Originally designed to act as a bodyguard, Jacqueline had quickly developed to become more of a personal assistant to her. Built from the finest metals, superior genetics, and synthetic materials, the cyborg was a living doll that she adored.

The ebony haired beauty flit her fingers across Nina's shoulder, rubbing gently at the tense knot that had developed over the day. Jacqueline knew how to anticipate Nina's needs, which meant they worked wordlessly and seamlessly together. The cyborg finished the massaging and proceeded to organise her paperwork for her.

Nina allowed her assistant to finish up as she moved over to the north wall of her office, waving her false hand in front of a seemingly empty space. The wall began to move, opening up and Jacqueline quietly stood at her side as the solid doors finished unlocking, revealing a black silicone surface that reminded Nina of the plastic formfitting packaging a Barbie might come in, molded to safely harbour the metal and flesh creation.

"Dock," she commanded and the assistant backed into the enclosure.

Jacqueline obeyed and reclined at a slight angle into the black silicone. The sound of the mechanised power sensors whirled and clicked as they connected in the back of the assistant's thighs, starting the recharging process. Jacqueline's eyes closed, her fingers relaxing at her side and Nina carefully studied the body for any cuts or bruises that might have appeared over the day's wear and tear.

Jacqueline's actual "intelligence" was housed in a mainframe within Massive Dynamic, which meant she hardly left headquarters, save an occasional trip back to Nina's penthouse for security reasons. In the event that happened, a portable version of the wireless network required to keep her running was taken to Nina's and could safely be run for seventy-two hours before the failsafe kicked in and completely disabled Jacqueline. Thankfully there had never been a reason for Nina to need her assistant that long, but with the current state of their reality…well, that really wasn't something she wanted to think about at the moment. Bell had insisted the Others couldn't use the rift and enter their version of the universe.

Nina gently touched Jacqueline's face, smoothing her thumb pad down the cyborg's cheek. Her dark lashes fluttered slightly and Nina wondered if machines truly could dream…


	15. Part I:Chapter Fifteen

**TITLE:**  _Chapter Fifteen_

**CHARACTERS:** _Astrid Farnsworth, Peter Bishop, Charlie Francis, Olivia Dunham, Walter Bishop_

**POV: **_Astrid, Charlie_

**GENRE: **_Dark, Surreal_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:** _"Peter watched her roll the fireball between her palms for a second and then gave an amused smile. "It figures that out of the four of us you'd be the pyro." "_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland_

**WORD COUNT:**_1632_

**WARNINGS:** _None_

**SPOILERS:** _None_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _please leave a review so I know how I'm doing so far._

**DISCLAIMER:**   _unbeta'd_

* * *

Astrid was completely dressed in her latest costume when she saw a small light appear on the ocean's horizon. She watched in curiosity, her hands still playing with the softball size orb of fire; she'd just learned how to conjure the small combustion in her hands and was practicing controlling it. As she sat on the driftwood log, the light became closer and she could see Peter standing in the rowboat. He waved at her and she waved back, the fire dissipating. By the time she brought it back, he'd arrived at shore.

Peter watched her roll the fireball between her palms for a second and then gave an amused smile. "It figures that out of the four of us you'd be the pyro."

She let the fire slowly crackle and she tried not to smile. "Oh really?"

He kicked sand at her feet. "Yeah. You're the silent, weird type."

She scrunched her nose at him. "If I'm the 'weird type', what the hell does that make you?"

He ran his fingers through the fire. "Tall, dark, and handsome."

Astrid rolled her eyes and chuckled. He sat down on the log next to her and looked her over for a moment as she continued playing with the flames.

"So do you care to tell me why you're dressed like that?" he asked, pointing at her clothes.

She glanced down at her clothes and then back up at him. "Because your father told me you liked the Alice in Wonderland stories. And I thought if we follow along the story, it will make it safer for us to figure out what it is that's hidden inside of the three of us that people want, you know? We'll know what to predict and what the rules are. And I figured all three of us know the story."

Peter jumped slightly when he saw that his clothes had changed from the usual casual clothes to a suit. "Who am I?"

She looked at the plum fabric and laughed. "The Cheshire Cat."

He stood up and inspected himself in a floating mirror that appeared before the two of them, removing the felt hat on his head. "How funny. I hardly smile in the first place."

"I know. Let it not be said that I don't have a sense of humour. Aw, your ears are all fuzzy," she teased, reaching out and feeling the black ears on his head.

He ducked away from her and pushed at her hands. "Did my dad put you up to this?"

"Not exactly. He was talking about Wonderland and it inspired me."

Sitting back down next to her, he gave her a slight smile. "This isn't so bad."

Peter held his hand out and a small ball of flames appeared; he began to roll the fire between his fingers until his gloves caught fire and he fell backwards off the log.

"Ah! Shit!" he cried, trying to beat the flames out in the damp soil.

Astrid began laughing so hard her sides ached as she watched him finally manage put the fire out. He finally climbed back onto the log and began to peel the scorched gloves off while she wiped the tears out of her eyes.

"That's pathetic, Peter," she teased.

He glared at her. "Shut up! I've been taking care of kids, not worrying about what cool things I can monkey about with!"

"Kids? I thought you were in a coma, too." She suddenly realised what he was referring to. "Oh my god. Does your dream world involve having little Peters running around?"

He nodded, still looking a bit grumpy. "Not offspring, if that's what you're thinking. Child versions of me."

She readjusted her alice band. "Explain."

Astrid had never seen Peter cry but it looked like he might at any second. "It's in my childhood house and I'm in the nursery with myself at different ages: Two, Five, Nine, and Twelve."

"Walter must have enjoyed seeing his little boy again," Astrid said softly.

Again, Peter was quiet but his hand reached out across the driftwood they sat on and his fingers rest atop hers.

* * *

Charlie peeled the orange Sonia had packed in his lunch, the small wisps of citrus replacing the horrible smell of medicine and sanitizers for only a second. Walter was back in the corner on his bed, sleeping next to Peter's inanimate body, quietly snoring. Charlie was a little pleased with himself that the mad scientist now felt confident enough he could sleep and Charlie would be able to handle things.

He watched the computer screen as the small blue dot that represented Olivia slowly blipped across to join the green and yellow dots that represented Peter and Astrid. He paused in the peeling for a moment to make sure she safely entered a white-line circle and when he saw she had, he threw the thick skinned peel into the wastebasket under the table he was working at.

Now all he could do was wait.

* * *

Olivia stepped off the rowboat onto the beach and took one look at Astrid before declaring, "Wow. You look like Alice from Alice in Wonderland."

Astrid leapt off the driftwood log and straightened out her pinafore. "That was the plan."

The blonde glanced at Peter. "And who are you—are those cat ears?"

Peter quickly put his hat back on. "Yes."

"What's up with that?" Olivia slapped her forehead as she suddenly realised who he was. "You're the Cheshire Cat!"

"Meow."

It appeared that Olivia couldn't keep her smile hidden. "So why did you pick Alice in Wonderland?"

"Because it's the only story I could think of that we all knew. Peter and I have both read the books and you once told me you've seen the movie."

Olivia planted her hands firmly on her hips. "We've all seen 'Shrek'. Why didn't you pick that?"

Astrid raised a brow. "How do you know that we've all seen 'Shrek'?"

Olivia frowned. "I…just know. Dunno why."

Astrid wrinkled her nose and looked at Peter. "Why have you seen it?"

Peter held up his hands defensively. "In-flight movie, I assure you."

"Olivia?"

"I watched it with Ella."

"Well, we aren't going with Shrek."

"Hey, you never said why you've seen it," Peter pointed out.

"Nothing else to watch on TV," Astrid said unapologetically, then faced the blonde. "All right and now it's your turn."

Olivia gasped and tried to cover herself with her hands as her dreary suit became a white satin version of the Playboy bunny coustume.

"Peter, when we get out of here I'm going to file a complaint of sexual harassment!" she shouted, looking absolutely horrified.

Astrid stepped forward before Olivia could say anything else. "It wasn't him."

Peter's eyes widened and he gave her an amused smile. "Something you wanna share?"

"Astrid, you need to put me in something else," Olivia begged, stumbling slightly in her white high heels.

Astrid felt bad but she knew she had to stand her ground. "Olivia, you have to learn how to manipulate this world. I put you in that because I know it's going to bother you, but the only way it's going to change is if you do it yourself."

"Astrid—"

"I'm serious—"

"Please—"

Peter nodded. "She's got a point, Olivia. If something happens to Astrid, you'd be completely helpless."

Olivia squeezed her eyes shut and bunched her hands into fists. Obviously, she was trying to change her outfit. No luck.

"It's not working," the blonde said desperately as she opened her eyes.

"Try again," Astrid said, always one to have faith in others.

"Careful. Don't pull a muscle," Peter taunted.

Olivia glared at him. "Screw you, Peter."

Astrid gently touched the other woman's shoulder. "Olivia, the more you stress about it, the harder it's going to be for you."

"C'mon. You're in the FBI. You should be tougher than a stupid bunny outfit," Peter said, wiping dust off his shoulder.

Olivia straightened up and looked a little more confident. "You're right. This could be completely worse."

"That's the spirit," Astrid said cheerfully and when the FBI agent turned around to look back out to sea, Astrid turned to Peter, a little surprised at the white marking she saw on Olivia's shoulder. "Matrix fan?"

He grinned. "Yeah."

Olivia turned back to them. "What is it?"

"You know the girl with the white rabbit tattoo that Neo follows?" Astrid asked.

Olivia looked at them blankly and Peter gave an exasperated, "Oh c'mon, Dunham. You've never watched 'The Matrix'?"

She crossed her arms over her chest and gave a grumpy, "I just couldn't get into it."

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Well, there was a girl with a tattoo of a white rabbit and you have one on your shoulder."

This seemed to interest the blonde, who attempted looking at her shoulder blade. "I've always wanted a tattoo."

"And now you have one without making a commitment."

Olivia studied the small white rabbit. "I like it."

"Okay," Astrid said, straightening her skirt off.

Olivia began to nervously adjust her nylons and looked up at her. "Okay what?"

"We have to follow you," she explained.

This seemed to aggravate the blonde once more. "Why me? You're Alice!"

Peter huffed, obviously understanding what was going on better than the third member of their trio. "The rules say we must follow the white rabbit."

"Oh damnit." Olivia stamped her foot and looked at the tall redwoods for a moment then pointed her finger toward their left. "Okay, I say that um, we go this way."

"And so our three heroes entered the forest, ready for the adventure that awaited them," Peter narrated dramatically as they began to walk into the woods.

"Shut up, Peter," Olivia snapped as Astrid giggled.

"Lead on, White Rabbit."


	16. Part I:Chapter Sixteen

**TITLE:**  _Chapter Sixteen_

**CHARACTERS:** _Rachel nee Dunham, Olivia Dunham, Charlie Francis,_

**POV: **_Rachel_

**GENRE: **_Dark_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:** _"Rachel worried at her bottom lip. 'So the doctors have hope?' "_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland, Rachel, Charlie_

**WORD COUNT:** _595_

**WARNINGS:** _None_

**SPOILERS:** _None_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _You can check out the "HD" versions of the chapters at my LiveJournal (link on my profile). They come with fun, corresponding pictures!_

**DISCLAIMER:**   _unbeta'd_

* * *

Rachel touched Olivia's forehead, smoothing away her sister's stray hair. No change. Her sister was pretty much a vegetable from what she understood. Well, she couldn't really be sure. She sighed—why couldn't that damn Hugh Laurie show up right now and explain to her what exactly was wrong and do some crazy medical test that would anger the other doctors and make Olivia wake up. She pondered for a moment if there was a test that could get that dishy Australian to take his shirt off—

A voice behind her made her jump in her seat. "Nothing new, huh?"

The FBI agent that seemed to be Olivia's partner had walked into the room and Rachel gave him a weak smile. "Oh, hello. No, she just lays there. Doing nothing."

The agent sat down in the chair next to hers. "She has functioning brain activity and isn't in any pain—"

"How do you know?" Rachel interrupted, feeling pained that he was trying to tell things she wanted to hear.

The agent gave her a slight smile. "We're able to perform tests that tell us."

"Oh." Rachel knew nothing about medical terms and practices, so she knew that there really wasn't anything specific he could tell her that would ease her mind. But as Olivia's sister, she still had to ask. "Is there any way you can wake her up? Or make her talk or something?"

"She suffered—"

"—suffered severe brain injuries, I know," Rachel said impatiently. "But it's just that you guys have all these machines and stuff and I can't understand why it can't be used on her."

The agent looked down at Liv. "It's difficult to explain, but the brain is so fragile and she had eighteen separate pieces of skull embedded when she arrived. Not to mention the swelling, bleeding, and the infection…"

Rachel felt sick to her stomach. "She'll wake up though, right? One time on the news, I saw that a man woke up after six years—or was it six months? Anyway, people can wake up at anytime. And I know it's been a lot longer than most comas are, but she could still just, you know, wake up."

He shrugged, ever so slightly. "The doctors said she's slowly improving. She's not a vegetable."

Rachel worried at her bottom lip. "So the doctors have hope?"

"We all do."

Rachel thought about the small, slightly rusted cookie tin hidden in the back of Olivia's closet. Having spent the better part of her life together with Olivia meant she knew a lot about her sister's quirks. One thing Olivia always did, no matter how well off she was, was horde money away; Rachel had known right away where to find her sister's stashes. Six thousand here, ten thousand there, Rachel had been able to take care of rent as well as her and Ella. She didn't feel bad about using the money without asking—she knew that if Olivia could talk, she would tell her to do it.

The mechanical sound of the black girl's breathing machine shook her from her thoughts and Rachel asked, "What about them?"

"Junior Agent Farnsworth is in a medically induced coma to keep her from feeling the pain of her injuries. And so is Peter, by request of his father."

Rachel's eyes returned to her sister's face. "Oh. So Olivia is the only who's still like this because of her injury."

"Yes."

"At least I didn't have to keep looking for an apartment," she said with a feeble laugh.

The agent's smile didn't quite reach his eyes.


	17. Part I:Chapter Seventeen

**TITLE:**  _Chapter Seventeen_

**CHARACTERS:** _Olivia Dunham, Astrid Farnsworth, Peter Bishop_

**POV: **_Astrid_

**GENRE: **_Dark, Surreal_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:** _" "That's Sweden, dumbass," she snapped, picking up a clod of dirt off the forest floor to pelt him with."_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland, IKEA_

**WORD COUNT:** _732_

**WARNINGS:** _None_

**SPOILERS:** _None_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _Just a short one I wanted to post :) Longer chapters are coming soon!_

**DISCLAIMER:**   _unbeta'd_

* * *

After Olivia tripped for the third time since they left the beach, she whipped around to look at Peter and Astrid, who were trying to keep a straight face.

"Okay, I don't know how long we've been walking around but I have no idea where I'm going. Can someone give me a compass?" she snapped, her nostrils flaring slightly.

Astrid pulled something heavy and copper out of her pinafore's pocket and handed it over to Olivia. "Here you are."

Olivia looked down at it and made a face. "It has five directions. And I can't read any of them!"

Astrid glanced down at the compass and chuckled. "Oh, sorry. They're in Norsk Bokmål."

Peter and Olivia looked at her as if she had grown an extra head and turned lime green.

"You speak _Norwegian_?" Olivia asked.

She nodded. "That's my first language."

Peter shook his head. "_What_?"

She suddenly felt self-conscious and her cheeks became hot. "My dad's Norwegian. Why do you think I'm named 'Astrid'?"

"I never really thought about it." He looked her over once more. "Really? Norwegian?"

"Yes, Peter."

Peter gave a facetiously deep bow with a flourish of the hand. "Well, thank you and your people for IKEA."

"That's Sweden, dumbass," she snapped, picking up a clod of dirt off the forest floor to pelt him with.

"Big difference," he teased, throwing a heap of moss at her.

"It **is** a big difference, Peter."

They began a throwing match and Olivia huffed loudly, obviously not finding any of it funny. "If you two are done, I'd like to know what the compass says."

Starting from the top, Astrid read the words clockwise, pointing to each one. "Air, earth, fire, water, nothing."

"Nothing?"

Astrid shrugged unsure what the words meant; just because it was her mind it didn't mean she had answers for everything.

Peter studied the compass for himself. "Wait—is Farnsworth a Norwegian surname?"

"No. My mom is from Britain, my dad's from Norway."

He looked contemplative. "And they moved here?"

"Yeah. But then my dad moved back and I took my mom's surname to make paperwork during the school year easier," she said, rolling the compass over in her hands.

"Why don't you have an accent?"

Astrid realised she wasn't going to get any peace until Peter had nothing left to inquire about. She took a deep breath and decided to quickly explain her background so that everything was out in the open and they could continue on their journey.

"My mom was the last of seven children, and her mom put her up for adoption," she started. "The couple who adopted her, my Nan and Pop-Pop, were two Brits living in America as aides to the British consul. Long story short, when they moved back to the UK they took my mom with them. She had their surname already, she grew up and went to Norway's University of Life Sciences, met my dad, moved to America and I was born. When he had to return to Norway, she reconnected with her biological siblings and decided to move to Alabama when I was seven to live off some family land. I grew up here in America with only one person who had an accent, her, so I've had more exposure to American English than anything else."

The other two were quiet for a moment before Olivia spoke again. "So you have three sets of grandparents?"

"Yep. It makes for a lot of gifts around the holidays and my birthday."

Astrid handed the compass back over to the blonde agent, who proceeded to study it once more.

Peter still seemed intrigued at her background and with a humoured smile demanded, "Say something in Norwegian. Like, 'My name is Astrid and I'm a badass Viking'."

Astrid planted her hands on her hips and glared at him "No. This isn't the circus. I'm not here to perform for you."

"Why not? Olivia can turn lights off with her mind, I have a fake leg, and you're half Scandinavian. I think we could make our own traveling freak show."

"We're going to head toward the direction labeled 'earth'," Olivia announced loudly, pointing ahead of them.

Astrid brushed the moss and forest debris Peter had pelted her with and began to follow her colleague. "Okay."

Peter took the opportunity to throw one more clod of dirt at her. "Earthward we go!"


	18. Part I:Chapter Eighteen

**TITLE:**  _Chapter Eighteen_

**CHARACTERS:** _Astrid Farnsworth, Olivia Dunham, Peter Bishop_

**POV: **_Astrid_

**GENRE: **_Dark, Surreal_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:**_ " 'We don't know what the effects of this world are. If Olivia believes she is tired, she becomes tired, which means if we get "hurt" here and Olivia believes it, then we could actually __**be**__ hurt,' he said soberly."_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland_

**WORD COUNT:**_ 415_

**WARNINGS:**_ None_

**SPOILERS:** _Anything Season One_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_ thank you for all the support :)_

**DISCLAIMER:**   _unbeta'd_

* * *

"I need to sit down," Olivia said some distance later, resting on a fallen log in the forest.

Astrid sat down next to her. "Are you okay?"

The blonde gave a weak smiled. "Just a little tired."

Peter raised an eyebrow. "Why are you tired?"

"It's just that we've been walking for a long time and—"

Astrid was now growing concerned about her fellow FBI agent's state of mind. "No, Olivia. We haven't. Outside of here we're lying in hospital beds. You know that, right?"

"Yes, I know." Olivia looked past her and pointed. "Hey, what's that?"

There was a dot of read in the distance between the trees and Astrid squinted her eyes to figure out what it was. "It looks like a sign."

Peter waved his hands about and a brass spyglass appeared midair. He held it up to his eye. "It says, _'This way to the Rose Garden'_." He collapsed the spyglass and made a face. "What the heck does that even mean?"

Astrid pondered for a moment and then suggested, "Perhaps it leads to the Palace of Hearts? You know, were the cards have to paint the roses red?"

His eyes became wide. "Whoa, should we go there then? The Queen wants to execute everyone, remember?"

Astrid agreed. "Let's avoid it."

Olivia cocked her head, still looking in the direction of the sign. "Why?"

"We don't know what the effects of this world are. If Olivia believes she is tired, she becomes tired, which means if we get 'hurt' here and Olivia believes it, then we could actually be hurt," he said soberly.

"I hadn't thought about that," Olivia admitted. "Do you believe that's possible?"

"We don't know. We have no contact with the outside world so it's not as though we can ask Walter if we're suffering real physical damage.

Olivia looked down at the copper compass in her hands. "The compass is pointing towards the road."

"No way, Liv. You need to lead us somewhere else," Astrid insisted firmly.

Peter handed over his Stetson to Olivia. "Hold on. I'm going to check out what's down that way."

Peter took a running leap and soared into the tree branches above them, at least a hundred feet off the ground.

"Careful!" Olivia warned.

"Do you see anything?" Astrid called out.

"I see something off in the distance," he yelled back down. "It looks like a castle. And a wall of green hedges or something."

Astrid didn't like the sound of that.


	19. Part I:Chapter Nineteen

**TITLE:**  _Chapter Nineteen_

**CHARACTERS:** _Olivia Dunham, Peter Bishop, Astrid Farnsworth_

**POV: **_Kenzie, Peter_

**GENRE: **_Dark_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:** _"__Peter began to tear little pieces of paper off his notepad and wad them up, pelting the woman in the backseat. Olivia feigned whining. 'He's _throwing_ things at me!' "_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland_

**WORD COUNT:**_ 675_

**WARNINGS:** _Ominous overtones?_

**SPOILERS:** _Anything Season One_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _I've been dying to post this chapter!_

**DISCLAIMER:**   _unbeta'd_

* * *

The redheaded EMT worker looked down at the blood and burned body that was securely trapped to the stabilising board and then looked back up. "What do you mean? She's going to die here in the ambulance! We've already labeled her as _'morgue'_—"

The man across from her shook his head, looking just as exasperated as she felt. "I _know_, but the boss just called to say they're FBI and that they have to be kept alive with every resource we have available—"

She braced herself for a moment as the ambulance swerved through traffic and then pointed out, "She'll be dead by the time we reach the hospital—"

The driver tilted his head towards the back, though his eyes never left the road. "Hold on! We're going to the Temple!"

The partially burned woman began to flatline—

* * *

Peter had his hand on the passenger-side door handle, staring down a certain blonde FBI agent. "And what, pray tell, is 'shotgun infinity'?"

She too had her hand on the passenger-side door handle, nearly touching his fingers. Her right hand was planted on her hip, suggesting a slight attitude that Peter thought was only too attractive on her usually solemn personality.

"It means whenever I'm not driving, I get to ride shotgun. Always."

"That's dumb," he declared, sneering at her.

"I don't care who acts as my co-pilot, just give me the keys!" Astrid laughed.

Peter used his free hand to fish the keys out of his pocket and tossed them over the top of dove-grey rental car to Astrid. "Here you are."

She caught them and opened the driver door, getting in. However, neither Olivia or Peter seemed willing to give up the front seat.

"No, it's not dumb," Olivia protested hotly though she seemed to be fighting back a smile.

"There's no room in the back for my legs," he insisted.

"Ladies first," she said, opening the door.

There was a bit of a scuffle and Peter managed to shove her out of the way. He managed to get into the car and lock the door behind him. Olivia pounded on the car window and he stuck his tongue out at her.

"Get in, goddammit!" Astrid shouted, honking the car horn.

"Peter, you're a jerk," Olivia grumbled as she got into the back seat of the car.

Peter laughed. "It's true."

Once on the freeway, the bickering began as Astrid turned on the radio to some form of mariachi and both Peter and Olivia groaned.

"I don't want to listen to that!" he insisted, reaching over to change the station.

The young woman slapped his hand. "I'm driving, I get control of the music."

"Astrid's not allowed to drive anymore," Olivia joked from the backseat.

"I second that," he agreed.

"Motion carried," Dunham announced and Peter could see Astrid trying to keep from smiling as she shook her head.

"You guys can walk next time."

Peter noticed movement out of the corner of his left eye and saw that the van he'd noticed driving erratically a few miles back was pulling along side them. "Astrid, watch the van pulling next to us. That asshole has been weaving in and out of the other lanes. Probably some stupid New Yorker who thinks he owns the road—"

Olivia scoffed. "Oh, yeah, cause that's _soooo_ different than how you drive, Peter—"

"It completely is!"

Olivia glanced to their left and smirked. "You don't even know what you're talking about! That van is now driving perfectly fine. It's mastered the speed limit, something you never seemed to do—"

He gestured back at the vehicle. "No, look! It's starting to pass us!"

Astrid managed to stop laughing long enough to shout, "Shut up! I'm trying to drive! Do I need to pull over?"

Peter began to tear little pieces of paper off his notepad and wad them up, pelting the woman in the backseat. Olivia feigned whining. "He's _throwing_ things at me!"

Peter grinned as she tried to shield herself with her folio. "Watcha gonna do—"


	20. Part I:Chapter Twenty

**TITLE:**  _Chapter 20_

**CHARACTERS:** _Astrid Farnsworth, Peter Bishop, Olivia Dunham_

**POV: **_Astrid_

**GENRE: **_Dark, Surreal_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:**_ " 'Olivia, you're putting us in danger,' Astrid whispered, in disbelief that Olivia was acting this way."_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland_

**WORD COUNT:** _337_

**WARNINGS:** _None_

**SPOILERS:** _None_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _Just something small to keep it going…_

**DISCLAIMER:**   _none_

* * *

Peter leapt down from the tree branches and landed on his feet with a heavy thud. "Okay, if we head out that way, we'll bypass the path to the castle completely."

He pointed off to their right, where the trees grew thicker and darker.

Astrid looked down at Olivia. "Which way is that by the compass?"

Olivia tilted it this way and that before proclaiming, "Ummm…Fire."

Astrid bit her lower lip. "Fire sounds scary."

"The compass keeps pointing towards 'earth', though. Maybe we should go there. Maybe we shouldn't run from it," Olivia said, looking back up at them.

Peter shook his head. "It's too dangerous."

Olivia stood up from the log she'd been sitting on. "If I'm the White Rabbit and you have to follow me, then I decide that we follow the compass."

"Olivia, you're putting us in danger," Astrid whispered, in disbelief that Olivia was acting this way.

The blonde tossed her hair in an unusual display of confidence. "I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

She began to forge through the heavy ferns that covered the forest floor and Astrid hurried after her.

"Olivia, wait!" She held out something she never thought she'd have to imagine. "Maybe you should have this."

Olivia's eyes lit up. "A gun!"

The younger agent gave a queasy smile as she manifested a target to hang off one of the mighty redwoods. "Unlimited bullets. Go ahead—try it out."

Dunham fired off so many rounds into the paper target that Astrid lost count. "Yes!"

"That's some pretty nice centering," Peter congratulated.

"Thanks. I was just at the range three days—" Her smile faded. "Oh, _right_."

They were quiet for a moment before Peter cleared his throat and put his hat back on his head. "Well, we should probably get going."

The blonde looked into the distance and murmured, "Yes. We don't want to be late."

Olivia the White Rabbit began to walk through the tall ferns to the path while Astrid and Peter exchanged concerned glances.


	21. Part I:Chapter TwentyOne

**TITLE:**  _Chapter Twenty-One_

**CHARACTERS:** _Charlie Francis, Sonia Francis, Walter Bishop_

**POV: **_Chuck_

**GENRE: **_Dark, Surreal_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:** _"Walter had tried to explain it to him, but he really had a hard time fathoming that they were still living within Astrid's mind."_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland_

**WORD COUNT:** _712_

**WARNINGS:** _None_

**SPOILERS:** _Anything Season One_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _None_

**DISCLAIMER:**   _unbeta'd_

* * *

Charlie sighed picking at the sprouts his wife had put in his avocado and hummus sandwich; she'd been on a healthy food kick lately and while it was good food, he was beginning to miss regular old bologna and American cheese on white. Olivia would have liked this sandwich. He glanced up to see her still body resting on her hospital bed. Rewrapping the sandwich in its wax paper, he left his seat to go over to his partner's side. He lifted her hand to his lips and gently kissed her knuckles.

Walter had managed to dress himself in clean hospital issue pyjamas and had wandered off to the hospital's cafeteria to have lunch, which meant Charlie was left alone to monitor the three comatose patients. It was mind numbing staring at the computer screens showing their minds joined together. He was curious and wished he could enter the Wonderland Complex to see what they were doing in their little world. Walter had tried to explain it to him, but he really had a hard time fathoming that they were still living within Astrid's mind.

Earlier he'd helped the older man do the muscle exercises used to keep the trio's bodies from atrophying. It was difficult to maneuver their body parts in way Walter insisted upon—after all, he'd never had any form of medical training aside from a CPR course in college. Thirty minutes a day per body was exhausting and never in a million years would he have expected that he'd be spending his time as a special agent for the FBI playing nurse and standing guard over three people in a coma.

Back at the table the computers were set up on his cell phone lit up and began playing _'Claire de Lune'_, the ringtone he'd set for his wife. He let go of Olivia's hand and returned back to the table.

He flipped the phone open and smiled slightly as he answered it. "Hi, Sonia."

His wife's cheerful voice seemed a million miles away. "Hi, honey. I was just calling to see how you were. I know I'm not supposed to call you while you're at work…"

He looked at the wrapped sandwich that he'd been tempted to toss in the trash. "It's all right. I was on my lunch break, anyway. How are you?"

"I'm good." She gave a slight pause and amended herself. "I'm great, actually."

"Oh? Any reason in particular?" He raised his eyebrows. "Did our Netflix arrive?"

She gave the soft laugh he'd fallen in love with years ago. "No, no. It's, um, something else."

He looked back over at the motionless body of Olivia. "What?"

"I'm pregnant."

Charlie felt like the air had been knocked out of his lungs. "What? Really?"

Her voice was so giddy. "Yes! I took the test yesterday, but you looked so tired last night that I thought maybe you should get some sleep before I told you…"

He smiled, in absolute disbelief as he shook his head, having to sit down to fully process the information. "I can't believe it…"

"I know! Isn't it great! We've been talking about it for so long," she said softly.

"It's wonderful, baby. It's the best news I've had in a long time." He ran his hand through his hair and tried to look away from his comatose partner.

Sonia sounded smug. "I thought it would make you happy."

Thoughts calling his parents and his inlaws flashed through his head, then he paused.

"Wait, when?"

"Uh, the last time we had sex?" she said, in slightly smart alecky tone.

He winced. Duh. Since the attempted assassination of Olivia, Farnsworth and Peter Bishop, he'd often found himself too exhausted both physically and mentally to be intimate with his wife. Sonia, as always, had taken it with grace.

"But it's okay," she continued, "because I'm going to get that Chinese calendar that Jody's always talking about. You know, the one predicts the baby's gender based on the date conceived?"

He made a face. "You don't really believe that stuff, do you?"

Sonia gave a sigh, but he knew she did it fondly. "Oh, Charlie. Ever the skeptic, aren't you?"

The steady beat of three heart monitors made him somber once more. "Someone has to be."


	22. Part I:Chapter TwentyTwo

**TITLE:** _Chapter Twenty-Two_

**CHARACTERS:** _Astrid Farnsworth, Peter Bishop, Olivia Dunham, Walter Bishop_

**POV: **_Astrid, Walter_

**GENRE: **_Dark, Surreal_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:** _"He stood up and stomped down on it with his foot. 'Ultraviolence,' he hissed, relishing the concept of his own vehement feelings."_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland_

**WORD COUNT:** _833_

**WARNINGS:** _None_

**SPOILERS:** _Anything Season One_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _Sorry for the break between posts_

**DISCLAIMER:** _ unbeta'd_

* * *

The path to the Rose Garden had originally started as plain dirt but the farther along they went, it slowly became paved with pennies. The forest trees continued towering and strange noises emitted from the depths around them. The hair on Astrid's arms stood on end and she tried to remind herself that the more she imagined what could be making the noise, the more likely it was to manifest. There was a metallic noise though, that made her suspicious.

Astrid glanced over at Peter, who was twirling his walking stick. "Are you wearing tap shoes?"

"I like the clicking and clacking."

Olivia hummed. "Follow the yellow brick road, follow the yellow brick road…"

Peter rolled his eyes as they looked down to the gold bricks that had replaced the pennies. "You realise that's the wrong movie, right?"

"Olivia, you changed something," Astrid said, delighted.

The blonde looked as if she was going to say something, but quickly held up her hand for silence. "Did you hear that?" She drew her gun and pointed to thick shrubs and tall grass a few yards away from them. "Something's in those bushes."

* * *

Walter pushed his peas around with his finger on the blue plastic meal tray the brown haired nurse had brought him earlier that evening. She was trying to get him to eat vegetables—he could tell these things. He prodded one of the small green globes, suspecting they were over cooked.

"Peas," he announced loudly to the silent room.

Peter didn't like peas, not as a child or as an adult. Walter scooped them off the plate and carried them over to the corner of the room between the changing screen and the counter. Using his fingernails, he pried up the loose tile that he'd written the secret magic words under the linoleum. Yes, they were still there, safe.

"I only like peas straight from the garden. _These_ are from a can."

He placed the peas in the centre of the empty space and pushed the tile back on top, delighting in the feeling of smashing something until it burst. He stood up and stomped down on it with his foot.

"_Ultraviolence_," he hissed, relishing the concept of his own vehement feelings.

Peas now dead, Walter turned to look at his son across, the one resting next to his cot. Smoothing out the hospital robe that kept him cozy, he shuffled over towards Peter.

"I used to sing Neil Diamond songs and your mother hated them," he said matter-of-factly.

Standing above the hospital bed, he studied the wiring and electrodes attached to the young man's skin, wondering if he should help the process along. After all, he didn't have all day to wait—things were needed! Processes to complete! Magic to become science! The impossible to be achieved—

Well, he mustn't get ahead of himself and—Walter looked nervously around the room—anyone could be listening to him think right now. He didn't have any tinfoil on, so there was still the danger in thinking freely.

He glanced back down at the tile and then turned back to his boy. He leaned close and with his lips against Peter's ear, whispered,

"The Mock Turtle."

* * *

Something small, no bigger than a walnut, appeared out of the tall grass and crawled slowly onto the yellow brick road.

"It's a turtle," Olivia declared with some surprise, putting her gun back in its holster as she knelt down to look at it.

Astrid watched as her fellow agent picked up the small turtle and thought for a moment about where it fit into the world of Wonderland. "A mock turtle."

Olivia made a face. "A what?"

"A mock turtle. What mock turtle soup is made of."

Peter joined them in their study of the small creature. "The Victorians had a soup called 'mock turtle soup' and it was made out of the discarded parts of a calf. In the story, the Mock Turtle was a creature that had the body of a turtle, and the head, hooves, and tail of a calf."

Olivia smiled and looked at the turtle in her hand. "Well, this just has a little calf's tail."

Astrid gasped. "Look!"

Out of the forest line appeared three gigantic mock turtles, though these ones looked decidedly more like Carroll's interpretation. Astrid stood up and went over to them, carefully not to step on any of the tiny mock turtles on the ground. These imaginary creatures definitely had cow's heads and they grazed peacefully, nearly waist high to her.

"Wow, this is like something from the Galapagos Islands!" Peter exclaimed, rapping his knuckles on the hard shell.

"This one looks like Gene," Astrid said, affectionately playing with the soft black cow ears.

Olivia looked gave them an amused look. "They could carry us to the Rose Garden."

Peter produced a silver coin out of the air. "Heads or tails decides. You call it."

"Heads," Olivia called out.

The coin flipped high into the air.


	23. Part I:Chapter TwentyThree

**TITLE:** _Chapter Twenty-Three_

**CHARACTERS:** _Nina Sharp, Jacqueline the Assistant, Phillip Broyles_

**POV: **_Nina_

**GENRE: **_Dark, Surreal_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:** _"This cyborg was the most beautiful instrument ever designed and whether it was for business or pleasure, Jacqueline was made to be used."_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland_

**WORD COUNT:** _1266_

**WARNINGS:** _mild femslash_

**SPOILERS:** _Anything season one_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _Because I'm soooooo hot for Nina. I'm just a smitten bitch :P_

**DISCLAIMER:** _unbeta'd_

* * *

Nina looked up at the movement in front of her desk; Jacqueline had stepped into her line of sight in an obvious attempt to catch her attention and Nina's eyes raked over the cyborg's form. She stood in a stance that accentuated the curves of her hips and the dip in her waist, something coy Nina had programmed as part of her random natural sequences.

"Has Phillip arrived?" she asked, her pen poised over forms that she had been signing.

Jacqueline nodded.

"Is he waiting down in the lobby?"

Jacqueline nodded again.

Even though she enjoyed Phillip's company, she had been satisfied with the quiet of her office. She wasn't really in the mood to discus the heavier things that had been weighing on her mind as of late. Setting down her pen, Nina leaned back in her chair.

"It wouldn't hurt to make him wait, now would it?"

Jacqueline's lips moved into a slight smile and she slowly came over to Nina's side of the desk, sitting down on the edge of the glass surface.

"So you agree with me?" Nina teased, stroking the smooth pale thigh that was crossed before her.

Jacqueline's smile broadened, though no teeth showed. Her skull form didn't have a mouth or definition of a jaw, just unparting lips that smiled, frowned, and pouted upon Nina's whim. Her eyelashes fluttered over soulless eyes and her ivory hand moved up to her neckline, fingers unbuttoning the top two buttons of her shirt to expose a sharp clavicle.

While Nina didn't like women as a rule, she did like art and there was no doubt in her mind that Jacqueline was Galatea, Pygmalion's creation brought to life. This cyborg was the most beautiful instrument ever designed and whether it was for business or pleasure, Jacqueline was made to be used. Nina stood up from her chair, studying the pale exposed neck that she had helped create. She leaned in and planted her hands firmly on the desk, on either side of Jacqueline's hips.

"Maybe I should call down to the lobby and tell him my attention is else where at the moment?"

The beauty tossed her head, making her long ponytail move fitfully and her shirt fell open further.

"Maybe I should send him away, hmm?" Nina teased, nuzzling the taut skin that covered the metals and artificial sinews that made up her neck and shoulder.

The assistant gave a programmed response of pleasure, her head tilting back and her back arching. For a fraction of a second, Nina wondered what her AI made of these lifelike simulations. The intercom a few feet away clicked and one of the Massive Dynamic secretaries' voices came over the line.

"Ms Sharp? Phillip Broyles is here to see you."

Nina was a little too dignified to pout, but nearly did. She straightened up and leaned over to the intercom, pressing a little red button.

"Send him up," she ordered blandly.

Jacqueline gave her an expression that mimicked curiosity, as though she wasn't sure whether they were going to continue or not. Nina sat back down in her chair heavily and gave a sad smile to her soulless companion. Jacqueline seemed to realise what she meant, but remained in her slutty secretary repose. A moment later, the door to her private lift opened and out walked the G-Man whom she found herself seeing much too frequently.

"Phillip," she greeted quietly.

Broyles looked from Jacqueline, who had glanced back at him, to Nina and asked dryly, "Am I interrupting something?"

"You were."

"Shall I leave?" he sneered.

Just to make him uncomfortable, Nina stroked her assistant's thigh. "She can wait."

Broyles snapped his fingers as he sat down in chair he usually took at her desk and Jacqueline stood up, rounding the desk to sit in front of him instead, legs crossed and chest pushed out. He watched her for a moment longer, his gaze lingering on the unbuttoned shirt and her inviting smile, before his eyes narrowed.

"Doesn't she blink?"

Nina fiddled with one of the pens on her desk. "No. That would interfere with her ocular recording system."

"It doesn't look natural," he said critically.

"She was originally designed for security, she's not supposed to be natural," she replied, rolling her eyes.

They were quiet for a few more minutes and Nina found herself wanting to confess all sorts of things to him, but the moment was lost when he asked,

"Can she feel pain?"

She shook her head, which caused her red hair to brush at her jawline. "No."

Broyles stood up in front of the automaton and struck her hard in the face. While any human would have been knocked over from the force, Jacqueline's head merely swung from the force unflinching, her facial expression still placid as she watched the man. Broyles seemed impressed and Nina arched a brow.

"That doesn't mean you can set her on fire. She has self preservation programmed deeply into her system. She won't let you do that forever." Nina thought for moment and corrected herself. "Though you could override a good percentage of it, if you really wanted to."

Phillip looked curious as he studied the unbruised flesh of the cyborg's cheek. "Really?"

"Why, did you want to try her out?" Nina asked, absolutely amused.

He glared at her, drawing back from Jacqueline sharply. "How typical of you—offering to whore her out. You're above nothing when it comes to getting what you want."

She laughed. "She's not a human being, Phillip. Lending her out is no different than letting you borrow my stapler."

"I never share my office supplies," he mumbled, then studied the cyborg again. "I thought she was human? Part of her?"

Nina watched her assistant, who was mimicking the action of being bored. "Only small bits and pieces. She has no organs to damage, but she has skin and a brain we cultured in the laboratory to take over temporarily if something happens to her electronic system. But she doesn't have blood…or emotions or most of what makes us human."

"Her hair feels real," he observed, holding her long black ponytail in his hand.

"It is. We have to put it in surgically like hair plugs." Nina beckoned for her automaton.

Phillip watched the cyborg with interest as she stood up and returned to Nina's side of the desk. "It's amazing that everything we need is stored within her."

Nina wished she could be happy about the compliment. "Almost everything. We still need the Vessels to do their part."

His eyes darkened—he wasn't one to take having his plans delayed lightly. "When will they be ready?"

"I've had a hard time ascertaining any information from Walter; he's being very secretive. Obviously he's working on his synaptic transfer process, but we don't know what progress is being made and what exactly is going on in their minds."

His brow knotted. "Couldn't you hack into whatever computer being used to regulate them? I remember John Scott was attached to a computer…"

"We're working on that, but it's easier said than done." She gave Phillip a curt smile. "Agent Francis is guarding information well, isn't he?"

He seemed embarrassed at this oversight on his part and quickly said, "If you'd like, I can arrange for you to have access to him?"

"That's sweet of you, Phillip, but I don't think I shall resort to such sinister tactics yet." Nina gave an exasperated sigh. "If only we knew what secrets they hid."

Jacqueline nodded and in a programmed gesture of sympathy, touched her fingers to Nina.


	24. Part I:Chapter TwentyFour

**TITLE:** _Chapter Twenty-Four_

**CHARACTERS:** _The Observer/September, Walter Bishop, Peter Bishop, Astrid Farnsworth, Olivia Dunham_

**POV: **_September_

**GENRE: **_Dark_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:**_ "(note: The Guardian has not attempted further contact with the Vessels through synaptic transfer.)"_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland_

**WORD COUNT:** _80_

**WARNINGS:** _None_

**SPOILERS:** _Anything Season One_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _none_

**DISCLAIMER:** _unbeta'd_

* * *

_**000.14:**_ _The Sickle—(note: unable to test abilities, status still unknown.)_

_**000.25:**_ _The Wunderkind—(note: The Wunderkind has 81% recovery: Nerve Trauma. In a medically induced coma)_

_**000.33:**__ The Embodiment—(note: body has completely integrated with the artificial limb)_

_**000.58:**__ (note: The Guardian has not attempted further contact with the Vessels through synaptic transfer.)_

**End Study**

* * *

September looked down at the sleeping male, his brow creasing…

As he left the room, he decided Walter Bishop was a monster.


	25. Part I:Chapter TwentyFive

**TITLE:** _Chapter Twenty-Five_

**CHARACTERS:** _Peter Bishop, Astrid Farnsworth, Olivia Dunham, Charlie Francis, Ella Dunham, Rachel Dunham_

**POV: **_Charlie, Astrid, Ella_

**GENRE: **_Dark, Surreal_

**RATING:**_ M_

**SUMMARY:** _"Ella stared at the candy bar behind the glass of the vending machine. She remembered when Mommy would let her have the fruit wraps and crackers for dinner when they lived in those hotels after they stopped living with Daddy. Right now she really wanted chocolate, really wanted to eat peanut M&M's, but she didn't have any of the big coins to buy any, just a penny she'd found in the parking lot of this hospital."_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland, Ella, Mock Turtle, Roses_

**WORD COUNT:** _1115_

**WARNINGS:** _None_

**SPOILERS:** _Anything season one_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _Ella!_

**DISCLAIMER:** _unbeta'd_

* * *

Charlie placed the blanket up to Olivia's chest, then rethought it and pulled it down to her waist. There. That would keep her warm, but not too warm. He hated the days when they had to rush Olivia, Peter, and Astrid back to the private hospital room for Rachel Dunham's twice a month visits. The toughest part was keeping the three attached to the synaptic transfer. Walter had warned many times that if the three disconnected in the middle of this limbo there could be dire consequences.

He refluffed her pillow, wondering. Walter had explained the concept of the 'Wonderland Complex' to him many times before, but as a man who believed in the supernatural that occurred by the hand of God, this was a very strange idea to grasp.

'_They live within this computer.'_

'_A ghost in a shell,' he said, recalling a Japanese show his wife liked to watch when they were back in college._

'_This young lady creates the structure while the three explore it.' Walter pointed to the screen with a trio of small dots of light._

Maybe he couldn't understand all of it, but he wanted to. He couldn't explain it to Sonia to see if she could rephrase the concept for him—she was very good at that—so for now he just took Dr. Bishop's word for it that it mad sense.

Charlie looked down at his watch. It was time to meet Rachel Dunham in the lobby.

* * *

The coin landed in Peter's hand and he flipped it onto the back of his left palm. Astrid peaked at what side the gold disk had landed on.

"Heads," Peter announced before it disappeared. "All right Dunham—do we need to saddle up?"

"Yes." Olivia began to climb onto the large shell of the giant mock turtle. "And hurry! We're going to be late!"

* * *

Ella stared at the candy bar behind the glass of the vending machine. She remembered when Mommy would let her have the fruit wraps and crackers for dinner when they lived in those hotels after they stopped living with Daddy. Right now she really wanted chocolate, really wanted to eat peanut M&M's, but she didn't have any of the big coins to buy any, just a penny she'd found in the parking lot of this hospital.

Mommy's footsteps hurried over to her and she felt her hand grab her shoulder firmly. "Ella, there you are! Come on!"

"Okay!" she said, forgetting about the candy momentarily.

"Hello, Ella," the nice man with black hair and a deep voice said, walking alongside them.

She smiled at him. "Hello, Mr. Francis. I found a penny in the parking lot."

He smiled back. "That's very nice. Is it shiny?"

"Not really. It looks like it was run over by a car!" she said excitedly.

Mommy rolled her eyes and pushed her into the room where her Aunt Liv lived. "That's nice, sweetie. Can you wait in there with your Aunt Liv? I need to talk to Agent Francis. Don't touch anything."

"I won't!" she said cheerfully.

Alone in the room, she immediately went over to her Aunt Liv's bed, wanting to see the silly patch of short hair on the side of her head. Ella began to giggle as she looked where a long scar traced from her temple to the back of her head and she reached over to touch the polished smooth skin—

"Hello," a voice behind her said and she jumped, jerking her hand away.

There was a man with grey curly hair, wearing pyjamas and blue bathrobe walking over to her and she tucked her hands into her pockets, wondering if he was going to tell Mommy what she was up to.

Ella wasn't a shy girl. "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."

He shuffled in his blue slippers over to her side to look at Aunt Liv. "I'm not a stranger. I know your Aunt Olivia."

"Are you her friend?" Ella asked, looking at him curiously.

"Yes. I take care of her." His hand rooted around in his robe's pocket and pulled out a few wrapped treats. "Do you want a candy?"

She clapped her hands excitedly. "Yes, please!"

As she unwrapped the candy and popped it in her mouth, his face became sad. "My son doesn't like raspberry treats."

"Is Mr. Francis your son?" she asked, her tongue rolling that large hard sweet around her mouth.

He pointed over to a familiar man laying asleep just like her Aunt Liv. "No, Peter is."

"Can I have another candy?" He gave her a second candy. She began to chew the one already in her mouth as she unwrapped the second one and walked over to Peter. "Is he in acomar, like my Aunt Liv?"

"Yes," he said.

She looked at Peter's face; he didn't look happy. "Is acomar like sleeping?"

"Much deeper than that." She looked up at his very serious face and he continued talking in a dreamy tone. "Right now your Aunt Olivia is dreaming of many great and beautiful things."

The man's voice reminded her of the narrators of her favourite fairytale movies. "Like dragons and princesses?"

He smiled at her. "Perhaps. Giant mushrooms and talking caterpillars and painted roses…"

Ella nodded and put the second candy in her mouth. She liked dreaming about dragons and princesses, too.

* * *

"Look," Olivia gasped.

They'd been riding on the back of the mock turtles and Astrid couldn't say if it had been for five minutes or five days—it was one of the problems with this world. Ahead were immaculately cut walls of roses, tall and lightly ominus. Heavy wrought iron gates were opened outwards to them, like a cage acting as though it weren't one.

The mock turtles came to a halt, looking quite interested in the flowers growing on the side of the road. The three dismounted and stood on the gold brick path that would lead them into what could only be the Queen of Hearts domain. As the mock turtles wondered off to the side of the road, grazing on Technicolor tulips and lime green daffodils, Astrid looked at the gateway, very wary of what was waiting for them.

A small girl came running to the entrance and though she was just far enough away that Astrid couldn't see her face clearly, her white dress with a very large red heart on her chest made her believe she was looking at one of the many members of the court of hearts.

"Where have you been?" the girl yelled to them, hardly sounding older than four. "The Queen is waiting!"

Olivia's face went pale. "Ella?"


	26. Part I:Chapter TwentySix

**TITLE:** _Chapter Twenty-Six_

**CHARACTERS:** _Peter Bishop, Astrid Farnsworth, Olivia Dunham, Nina Sharp, William Bell_

**POV: **_Astrid, Nina_

**GENRE: **_Dark, Surreal_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:** _"The tall man next to her gave a curt smile. 'Morse code. How quaint.' "_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland_

**WORD COUNT:** _641_

**WARNINGS:** _none_

**SPOILERS:** _Anything season one_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _finally, the story is picking up!_

**DISCLAIMER:** _unbeta'd_

* * *

Olivia broke in to a sprint to chase after the young girl, shouting, "Ella!"

Astrid and Peter began running after the blonde FBI agent and Astrid asked, "Who's Ella?"

They sprinted down the corridor of roses, turning left and he answered, "It's her niece—"

"Ella, wait!" Olivia shouted, trying to reach the young girl who led them further into the garden which was beginning to look more and more like a maze. "It's me, Aunt Liv! Ella!"

Peter finally managed to catch up to Liv and grabbed onto her arm. "Olivia, dammit! Stop! That's not the real Ella!"

Olivia turned to look at the doppleganger disappear around another turn of the rose. "But—"

"She's not real. You have to remember that," he said firmly, then looked up. "I hear something."

Astrid couldn't hear a thing. "I don't hear anything."

"I think it's these cat ears." Peter pointed to the direction the girl had disappeared. "This way."

* * *

"Increase her waist measurements by .78 centimeters at navel and .9 centimeters at 1.32 centimeters above navel line and 1.32 centimeters below navel line," Nina instructed to the technician that was refitting the skin on her cyborg's hips.

"Everything fine, Jacqueline?" she asked, looking at the suspended torso and head before her, her eyes meeting her assistant's before studying the wires sticking out of the stumps extending from her shoulders.

The long right arm on the metal tray across from them shifted and the fingers began to tap out a sequence that signaled, 'yes'.

The tall man next to her gave a curt smile. "Morse code. How quaint."

"William, you know that it's a practically dead language. I could have her give out nuclear launch codes and no one would know what she's saying," Nina said dryly.

This made him give her an amused look. "I hate moving her through the time space continuum; it puts so much wear and tear on her body."

"Jacqueline, notify the tailor that your measurements have changed," Nina instructed, her assistant's head nodding.

"And her eyes get much brighter. Look at these." He held up a sterile plastic container that contained two floating eyeballs in saline. "So beautiful."

"Unnatural. Refitting her eyes is such a bitch," she declared with a snort.

He raised an eyebrow disapprovingly. "Language, Nina. Ladies don't talk like that."

Nina smirked at him. "Being a lady is only an act."

* * *

The three rounded another corner of the massive rose garden, halted when they saw a cluster of moment around a tall rose bush shaped like a tree.

Peter quickly moved in front of both Olivia and Astrid defensively. "What the hell…?"

"Card guards!" Astrid whispered before clamping a hand over her mouth.

"They don't have faces!" Peter hissed, his cat ears pointing back in a sign of suspicion.

"What are they doing?" Olivia asked.

"Painting the roses red," Astrid and Peter sang quietly in unison.

One of the cards, the Nine of Diamonds spun around and shouted, "You have to help us!"

"It's the Queen—" the Seven of Spades started.

"These are white roses and—" the Two of Clubs interrupted.

"They have to be red—" the Ten of Spades insisted.

"What will she do when she finds out they're white?" Olivia asked them, sounding concerned.

The Nine of Diamond's voice became grave. "Execute us."

Before Peter or Astrid could stop her, Olivia went over to the cards and picked up one of the paintbrushes. "We have to help."

"This is a mistake," Astrid mumbled, but found a paintbrush, too.

"Peter, c'mon," Olivia said, waving him over.

"The paint won't stick," Peter observed.

Astrid shook her head as the paint dripped off the petals. "I can't get it to stick either—"

A low and infuriated voice rang out behind them. "Who are you and what are you doing in my garden?"


	27. Part I:Chapter TwentySeven

**TITLE:** _Chapter TwentySeven_

**CHARACTERS:** _Astrid Farnsworth, Olivia Dunham, Peter Bishop, Rachel Dunham, Ella Dunham, Walter Bishop_

**POV: **_Astrid, Rachel, Nina_

**GENRE: **_Dark, Surreal_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:** _"__Astrid gave a hesitant curtsey. 'The Cheshire Cat and the White Rabbit, your highness.' "_

**CHALLENGE: **_Alice in Wonderland_

**WORD COUNT:** _472_

**WARNINGS:** _None_

**SPOILERS:** _Anything season one_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_ How many of you were TLIA readers?_

**DISCLAIMER:** _ unbeta'd_

* * *

Rachel sat at Olivia's side, trying to get answers from Agent Francis. "Can she hear me?"

He shrugged. "Subconsciously, I'm sure."

"Can she hear me?" Ella chirped, leaning over the edge of the bed's railing.

"I'm sure even the dead could hear a sweet voice like yours," the crazy man in the bathrobe said, smiling pleasantly at her daughter.

"It's sweet because of the candy!" Ella sang loudly. "He gave me candy, mommy—"

"Yeah, I know, Ella. Shhh," Rachel snapped. "I'm trying to talk to my sister."

* * *

Before them stood a blonde woman wearing a golden crown, her black and red gown indicating she was the queen of hearts, the last person they needed to deal with here in this strange world.

"Rachel," Olivia gasped.

Astrid was surprised. "Your sister?"

"**Silence**!" The Queen studied her for a moment, looking her over before stating suspiciously, "You're not a card."

Astrid nodded. "I'm a girl."

"With a cat and a rabbit."

Astrid gave a hesitant curtsey. "The Cheshire Cat and the White Rabbit, your highness."

The Queen circled them slowly, flanked by heart suite card guards with javelins. Her eyes were narrowed, studying the trio as she fanned herself, the long train of her gown dragging in the dirt of the path.

"What are you doing here in my garden?" the Queen finally asked.

"They were painting the roses, your highness! Painting them red!" Two of Clubs shouted hysterically, throwing his paintbrush into the rose brushes.

"Hey! I can't believe you're selling us out!" Peter shouted angrily.

"_Silence_!" the Queen screamed.

* * *

"Prepare the Cortexiphan," William ordered.

Nina watched with interest as the banana bag usually filled with nothing more plasma was bloated with another clear liquid, the befabled Cortexiphan that acted as the lubricant between electrical functions of the brain and matter-yet-to-exist. While Jacqueline's lower body still had yet to be assembled and replaced back onto her, she did have her arms reattached, the fingers tapping out a rhythmic sequence that rhymed, at least in Morse code.

Obviously Nina had a very deep attachment to her assistant, human or not, and sometimes she found herself worried for the cyborg's sake. Of course she wasn't a conscience being, merely an extraordinarily expensive computer with legs, but nevertheless she had an artificially augmented brain built from very select human cells.

And even though she'd been built as a gift by William, Nina wasn't comfortable with him giving the assistant orders. This was mostly because he treated her like a pebble instead of a diamond.

"Jacqueline, perform sequence one."

A small blue dot appeared in the air, nearly the size of a golf ball.

"Larger," William commanded.

The blue dot opened even more and even though she'd seen it many times before, looking into the other universe still took Nina's breath away…


	28. Part I:Chapter TwentyEight

**TITLE:** _Chapter TwentyEight_

**CHARACTERS:** _Olivia Dunham, William Bell, Nick Lane_

**POV: **_Olive_

**GENRE:**_ Dark _

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:** _"A few months ago, Olive might have pointed out that it wasn't hardly sweet enough, but she'd learned that it was hopeless to disagree with the few pleasures she was given in this horrible place."_

**CHALLENGE:**_ Alice in Wonderland_

**WORD COUNT:** _1065_

**WARNINGS:** _blood_

**SPOILERS:** _Anything season one_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _oh, how I love flashbacks_

**DISCLAIMER:** _unbeta'd_

* * *

Olive looked up at the ceiling, trying to get her eyes to focus. Her brain felt hot, really hot like she'd been standing underneath the sun for too long or putting her head to close to a heater. She was still strapped down to her bed and while the room was a comfortable temperature for the rest of her body, her brain felt as though it was ready to catch fire. The room was a sterile bright white, but she'd become used to it; it was nicer than the motel room she'd lived at with her mom and Rach not too long ago…

A woman in an old fashioned nurse's uniform came in, her starched uniform the faintest of pink with a little white cap that had the red plus sign on it that Olive recognised from her classroom's first aid kit. This nurse was wearing a white surgical mask, so when she talked, the paper undulated.

"Open your mouth."

The voice seemed disembodied from behind the mask, but Olive obeyed nevertheless, parting her lips slowly. The nurse lifted a small dropper filled with murky liquid and let the drops fall onto Olive's tongue. It wasn't water…something more refreshing…Olive smiled drowsily at the nurse.

"I know how much you like lemonade," the nurse said pleasantly, allowing her a moment to swallow the liquid

A few months ago, Olive might have pointed out that it wasn't hardly sweet enough, but she'd learned that it was hopeless to disagree with the few pleasures she was given in this horrible place.

"How does your head feel?" the nurse asked. "Warm?"

Olive blinked twice, the signal for 'yes' and the nurse, pulled the clipboard off the table next to her to make a note. This was the third year she'd come to this summer camp and she wasn't sure if other children went to camps like this one. Sure, the last week was fun because they were allowed to leave their room and swim in the pool and watch movies in the cafeteria, but that was only for the last week of camp. The rest of the time…

"Has it been like this since you woke up?" the nurse asked.

Olive blinked twice again. She really didn't like how hot her brain felt.

The two doctors who she saw every morning walked into the room, Dr. Bell and Dr. Bishop. Olive's right hand unconsciously flexed, recalling the electric jolts they would send through her palm and fingertips once an hour for the first week. They both stood at the foot of her bed and Dr Bell, the one with the dark eyes, addressed her first.

"Olive, I'm going to ask you to do something for me. Do you understand?"

Olive blinked twice and he nodded.

He held up a large white card. "Do you see this card?"

She gave the corresponding blinks and he said, "There is a black dot on the back of it."

Then he passed the card over to the nurse and lifted a glass cube about the size of his head into her sight.

"Do you see this box?"

Two blinks.

"I need you move the black dot into this box." His dark eyes bored into her. "Do you remember how I told you to do it?"

'_See the dot in the box. See the dot in the box. See the dot in the box.'_

Slowly, as if a smudge or mould was growing with the box, a black dot appeared, suspended in the centre of the glass box. She panted slightly, but was relieved to see that Dr Bell looked happy.

"Very good. Nurse," he glanced over at her and Olive watched the woman move.

This time the nurse held out a dropper that was flavoured red. Olive opened her mouth eagerly and the red liquid, which stung a little, tasted good on her tongue. It was fruity but bitter and Olivia swallowed it down, thankful for this reward.

"Olive, turn the dot white."

This puzzled her. She'd never done this before. Behind a white curtain on shower rings was another hospital bed where her camp buddy was, Nick. He made a moaning sound and she wondered if he was uncomfortable in his bed—Dr Bishop had once said Nick was the weaker one and Olive sometimes wondered if this was true. She had to focus, though—the doctors wouldn't leave if she didn't focus.

Phantom jolts through her right hand and the heat in her skull felt like the time when she was playing with the curling iron and burned her neck—

"Very good, Olive!" Dr Bell said cheerfully.

She sighed, tired, uncomfortable, and desperately thirsty, but this was the happiest she'd ever seen Dr Bell, who was a sour character. Dr Bell smiled over at Dr Bishop and said,

"I think it may be time."

Dr Bishop didn't look that happy. "Belly…It's too soon."

"I want to try." Dr Bell's attention returned to her. "Now Olive, I want you to make a matching white dot inside your mind. You need to make the space open in your mind. Do you think you can do it?"

She blinked twice.

"Belly, I don't think she's ready to manage…"

Her eyes hazed over as she shut their voices to concentrate.

'_See the dot in your head. See the dot in your head. See the dot in your head.'_

There it was! First just the size of a pinprick but slowly becoming larger—

Next to her Nick screamed uncontrollably!

"Dr Bell, he's bleeding from his ears and nose!" the nurse shouted and Olive could hear the curtain dividing their beds being flung open.

"Olive, stop picturing the dot! Stop!" Dr Bishop shouted.

Olive's eyes shot open and while Nick was still screaming, she knew he was in less pain; she didn't know how she knew, she just did. Sometimes they pretended they were twins, finishing one another's sentences, drinking soda to see the other burp, playing with the unseen physical connexion between them.

"Belly, I told you!" Dr Bishop shouted angrily as the two doctors and the nurse rushed to the boy's bedside to treat him

Olive's head lolled over, her brain absolutely aching from the amount of heat and Dr Bell glanced back at her, beaming as he helped hold Nick down. "You did a good job, Olive."

Olive didn't like this camp at all.


	29. Part I:Chapter TwentyNine

**TITLE:** _Chapter TwentyNine_

**PAIRING:** _None_

**CHARACTERS:** _Astrid Farnsworth, Olivia Dunham, Peter Bishop, Walter Bishop, Charlie Francis, the Queen of Hearts, the King of Hearts, Rachel Dunham, Ella _

**POV: **_Astrid, Charlie_

**GENRE:**_ Dark, Surreal_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:** _"On the King's throne was a decapitated head sitting on a silver platter. Blood was dribbled slightly out its lips, but easily the part that shocked them the most was that the man's head appeared to still be alive. Astrid covered her mouth with her hands. 'Oh god…' "_

**CHALLENGE:**_ Alice in Wonderland_

**WORD COUNT:** _1058_

**WARNINGS:** _mild gore, blood_

**SPOILERS:** _Anything season one_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _The whole story was lost so I'm rewriting it, which is why there haven't been updates in forever. Please bear with me!_

**DISCLAIMER:** _the usual_

* * *

"You're late," the Queen decided, fanning herself slowly, looking Astrid up and down.

The heady scent of house paint and roses surrounded them and Astrid asked meekly, "For croquet?"

"Yes," the Queen said and motioned for them to follow her as she began to leisurely walk down the path.

The cardguards' hold on her arms didn't loosen until she offered, "We shouldn't keep you waiting then, your highness."

"Nice, Astrid," Peter whispered as the Queen signaled for the guards to let go of them entirely.

As they walked through the maze, trying to keep as much distance between them and the Queen of Hearts as possible while the cardgaurds escorted them with long and sharp spears.

Astrid moved closer to Peter and mumbled as quietly as she could, "Peter, we need to get away from here. I think this whole manifestation has something to do with Olivia and Rachel's relationship. Why else would she picture her sister like this?"

"Olivia, has anything been going on between you and Rach?" Peter asked pulling the blonde over to them.

"Of course not," she replied coolly.

Above them, the sky became overcast and dark, ugly clouds that threatened thunder and lightning.

"Then why did the sky just do that?" Peter

"Olivia, you have to be honest and **quick**. This doesn't seem safe," Peter hissed, pointing above them.

The Queen batted her eyelashes at Peter from behind the fan she held. "Pray tell, Cheshire Cat—what makes you want to play games with a girl and an itsy-bitsy bunny?"

"Olivia, are you angry with how I've been calling Rachel?" Peter asked, looking something between surprised and amused.

She wouldn't meet their eyes. "No."

"Eyes here, pussy cat," Rachel purred, cupping his chin and redirecting his face to look back at her.

"Olivia, are you and your sister competitive?" Astrid asked desperately. "You have to admit it!"

"Yes," she breathed, defeated.

"Croquet won't wait, little rabbit," the Queen snarled, glaring at Olivia.

The maze opened to a small grassy field, still surrounded by the walls of roses and as they walked across the lawn behind the Queen, they could see an assortment of people wearing red and standing around two thrones.

"Fuck!" Olivia hissed sharply and they turned to see the look of fear in her eyes.

"Olivia…?"

She seemed hesitant to get near the heart suites, her eyes darkening. "These are the people my sister used to hang out with. They never liked me."

"Don't worry, they can't hurt us," Peter insisted.

"I won't let them," Astrid promised. "Plus you have that gun."

She touched the weapon attached to her side and gave a slight smile. "I do."

"What is that?" Peter asked, his brow furrowing as they moved closer to the large and elegant thrones.

On the King's ornate golden chair was a decapitated head sitting on a silver platter. Blood was dribbled slightly out its lips, but easily the part that shocked them the most was that the man's head appeared to still be alive.

Astrid covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh god…"

"Gregg!" Olivia shouted. "What did you do—"

"I got rid of the part that was the problem," the Queen said with a smile, her fingertips playing lightly with the short brown hair of her husband. "Now the King of Hearts can think with the only head that matters."

"Gregg—" Olivia started to go over to the head, but Astrid roughly grabbed her hand to hold her back.

"A game of croquet?" Gregg the King of Hearts asked, his eyes rolling up to the Queen.

The Queen's looked over at them, a wicked smile on her lips. "With a girl, a rabbit, and a cat."

* * *

Rachel touched at the electrodes on her sister's forehead, studying the large black machine they were attached to.

"Why are they connected to all these wires?" she asked, glancing over at Peter's head and the black girl's.

The old man in the bathrobe laughed and smoothed his fingers across Olivia's electrodes. "To monitor brain waves, of course."

* * *

"Every one take a flamingo," the Queen of Hearts ordered as the large playing field before the throne slowly began to take shape—wickets made of rose vines spaced erratically across the manicured lawn, small hedgehogs wandering across the grass rolling into small balls, and a flock of pink flamingos standing quite cramped in a large urn of water.

Peter leaned near her and whispered, "Astrid, distract the Queen for a second."

"Your highness, as the Queen, I am sure you are the best croquet player?" Astrid asked curiously, turning the woman's attention towards her.

"I am. Do you expect to win?" she said with a smirk.

"No, your highness," Astrid said humbly, eying the large flamingos nervously.

"What about you, Cheshire Cat—" the Queen asked, turning to look over at Peter. "What are you doing?!"

Astrid spun around to see Olivia on Peter's shoulders, obviously caught red handed trying to look over the tall rose walls of the maze.

"I was—" the blonde FBI agent started to explain.

"He's cheating!" one of the heart suites accused.

"She wants him to!" another shouted.

Olivia tumbled off of Peter's shoulders. "I didn't—"

The Queen's face twisted in rage, her lips snarling as she looked at Olivia. "You're plotting against me, aren't you? You think I don't deserve him!"

"Rachel, you have no idea who he is or what we do!" Olivia shouted angrily.

"Off with her head!" the Queen screamed, pointing her finger at her sister.

The cardguards began to rush them and Olivia let out a terrified cry, prompting Peter to jump in front of them.

"Hold your breath!" Peter shouted, pulling the pin out of a grenade that had suddenly materialised in his hand, throwing it at the Queen and her cardguards.

The grenade exploded in sparks and a cloud of smoke, momentarily blinding Astrid as she screamed, "PETER!"

* * *

"Walter, is this normal?" Charlie murmured as the three dots on the screen that represented each of the comatose patients began to vibrate.

Walter hardly glanced at them as he pulled syringes out of his bathrobe pocket. "Mild distress. I wouldn't worry about it."

"What are you injecting him with?" Charlie asked suspiciously as he watched the scientist slip the needle into his son's IV line.

"Something that will help."


	30. Part I:Chapter Thirty

**TITLE:** _Chapter Thirty_

**CHARACTERS:** _Astrid Farnsworth, Peter Bishop, Olivia Dunham, Charlie Francis, Sonia Francis_

**POV: **_Astrid, Charlie_

**GENRE:**_ Dark, Surreal_

**RATING:** _M_

**SUMMARY:** _" "I need to get a running start, Spring-heeled Jack," Astrid said nervously, backing up."_

**CHALLENGE:**_ Alice in Wonderland _

**WORD COUNT:** _856_

**WARNINGS:** _none_

**SPOILERS:** _Anything Season One and Two_

**DISCLAIMER:** _not mine_

* * *

In the dark of the sudden smoke, Astrid felt a hand grab tightly onto hers, dragging her away. Startled, she breathed in the pungent smoke and began to choke as its acrid burning rubber scent. She felt herself collide with something prickly and she cried out as she realised her arm was bleeding. Quickly something large and rubber covered over her face and in the midst of fighting it, she realised it was a gasmask and through the visor she could see Peter wearing one, too. Olivia was struggling to secure hers and she could see Peter's large cat ears were pointing back.

"We'll be able to escape if we go this way," he said in a very muffled voice as she listened to panic and commotion from the Queen and her cardguards.

"What's over the maze?" Astrid asked her fellow agent, her voice sounding alien to her from the filter.

Olivia shrugged, looking very strange with her bunny ears and gasmask. "It looked like a wasteland but I can't be sure. Regardless, it's not here."

Astrid nodded. "Right."

"Give me your hand," Peter said to Olivia.

Olivia hesitantly slipped her hand in his. "What? Why?"

"Because you're not able to keep up." Peter nodded at her and Astrid took hold of Olivia's hand as well. "Astrid, get ready to jump."

"I need to get a running start, Spring-heeled Jack," Astrid said nervously, backing up.

"C'mon! I can hear them!" he said, sounding frustrated.

"Okay!"

The three broke into a run towards the monstrous wall of roses and when Peter shouted, "NOW!", they jumped. Astrid and Peter's confidence in this artificial dreamworld allowed them to make the spectacular leap, pulling Olivia with them. As they cleared the wall, Astrid could see the rocky ground below them, cloaked by the night sky. She squeezed her eyes shut and hoped a mattress would materialise in time. They tumbled onto a soft and springy surface, somersaulting and rolling until they finally stopped on rocky ground. Astrid let go of Olivia's hand and stood up, dusting herself off as she allowed the mattress dematerialise.

"Made it!" Peter said happily.

They studied their surroundings, removing their gas masks to breath easier in the night air. Tall stacks of worn and semi demolished cars formed a crude version of Stonehenge.

"Wow, now whose mind is this?" Astrid asked.

Peter's cat ears swiveled. "Hard to say. Look familiar to anyone?"

Olivia frowned, biting the inside of her cheek. "It's like what I saw when I first did the synaptic transfer. A car graveyard, but it's not entirely the same."

Peter jumped high into the air and when he landed on the dusty ground, he pointed ahead of them. "That looks like a city up ahead."

Astrid leapt up as well, catching a glimpse of what he was talking about. "Yeah, the lights."

Olivia reached into the pocket on her thigh holster and pulled out the large, five directioned compass. "The compass says we should go there."

* * *

Dinner every night with Sonia was one of the saving graces of Charlie's life this many months into the bizarre situation he'd been put in.

"So how is Olivia?" his wife asked as she passed him the dinner rolls.

"She's fine."

Her hand found his. "You know it's not your fault that they got hurt, right?"

He pushed the asparagus spear through the mashed potatoes and gravy on his plate. "I programmed the GPS in their rental. It was my fault they went the way they did. Down a different route they would have noticed that they were being followed."

"You can't keep punishing yourself for it, sweetheart." Her fingers stroked his knuckles gently before she changed the subject. "I was wondering if you might be able to get Saturday off? I'd like to paint the spare bedroom."

He couldn't help but smile. "Blue or pink?"

"I thought we might keep it a surprise? Wait until the big day?" she offered.

He nodded. "So something neutral then?"

A dreamy look crossed her face. "The windows face south. If we paint the nursery yellow, it will compliment the southern sunlight."

"Sounds good, dear."

She smiled and he thought of the empty hospital walls that held three comatose bodies.

* * *

A large wall surrounded the source of light, dark cement with cracks. They'd spotted a small hole and at the moment, Peter was peeking through it.

"What do you see?" Astrid asked.

"It is a city," he confirmed.

"Lemme look." Astrid pushed him out of the way and put her eye to the hole. "I don't see anyone."

"It feels empty," Olivia declared, her eyes closed as she pressed her palms to the cement. "The compass says this is where we're supposed to be."

Peter twirled his walking stick and waved the two women to follow him. "C'mon, let's find a gate."

After a moment of "A ladder. This'll be fun." He tapped the silver handle of his cane on the wall and gave Olivia a Cheshire smile. "Ladies first, White Rabbit."

"Do you dare look up," she warned before starting up the ladder.


End file.
